


Turned Tables

by Theriechenbachevent



Category: Skip Beat!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-26
Packaged: 2018-04-23 14:30:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4880401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theriechenbachevent/pseuds/Theriechenbachevent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yashiro needling Ren over his relationship with Kyoko was something like second nature. So did he expect it when the the tables turned and it turned out the he was in the hot seat? </p><p>Not at all. </p><p>Did he mind?</p><p>Absolutely not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Did You Just Ask Me Out?**

_That's it. I'm going to commit suicide. Seriously._  Yashiro stood outside Ren's change room handing him various items as he was requested. They were discussing Ren's latest incident with Kyoko. Ren seemed to be in a sharing mood today for once or maybe he was finally starting to trust in him as a friend. He hoped it was the latter.

"Wait- you're telling me you had a prime opportunity with her and  _you let her go?_ " Yashiro said incredulously.

"Yashiro. what was I supposed to do? Shove her up against a wall and kiss her senseless?" came Ren's muffled voice. Yashiro flushed.

"Thank you for putting that image in my head. I'm going to have nightmares now."

"You asked."

"Ren, I don't understand why you are so determined to keep this relationship with her platonic."

"..." Yashiro sighed at the silence from within the change room.

"Okay, okay fine. Don't tell me. I get the feeling its taboo for various reasons."

"...thanks."

"BUT! The longer you play this sempai-kouhai game of yours, someone else is going to come along and make a move. And you know what? She might just go for it."

"Yashiro, we're talking about LME's number 1 Love Me girl here. No way."

"So? She's still a girl, a human being Ren. We can't exist to our full potential without it. It's a purely human emotion and its bound to resurface within her. Take you for example, for years you ran away from women like they carried the plague. You refused invitations to dates and parties all under the fear that you may start to like the woman. Kyoko showed up and barely lifted a pinky finger and here you are head over heels for the girl. in fact, didn't you hate each other at the beginning?"

"...that's true."

"And weren't you the one who said that you didn't want love or the complications that came with it?"

At this Ren emerged from the change room, now clad in his signature casual suit this time in a deep brown with a cream coloured dress shirt.

"Even if that were true, she's still too young." Yashiro pretended to pull his hair out.

"Argh! I thought we'd already gone over this! Ren, women mature far more rapidly than men. Her mentality is already well beyond her years because of her past and even more so now that she's in show business. I'm telling you she's not too young for you!"

Ren was silent as he turned and pinned Yashiro with a thoughtful look. _Kyaaa!_  Yashiro fangirled inwardly. _Are my words_ _ **finally**_ _resonating within him somehow?_

"Okay, so its all fine and good to give advice to others, but can you practice what you preach?"

"Huh?"

"Yashiro, you're four years older than me right? 24 years old?"

"..yes?"

"So you're saying that you would then, by using your own logic, think it was completely fine to ask Kotonami-san out on a date?"

There was a moment of stupefied silence. Then:

"WHAT?"

"I'm pretty sure I was clear in what I just said, Yashiro."

"Ren, this has nothing to do with me. Besides, I don't like her that way." Ren snorted.

"Right, and I'm in love with Fuwa."

"Eeek Ren don't say something so disastarous!"

"All I'm saying is that it's useless to lie to me. I've seen the way you look at her. You practically worship the ground she walks on."

Yashiro blushed.

"That is not true!"

"Right okay. Well, how about we make a deal? If you ask Kotonami-san out on a date the next time we see her and she actually  **agrees**  to date you, I'll make a move on Kyoko."  _At least one of us should have a chance at love,_  thought Ren internally.

"Wha- but I - I mean -" Yashiro sputtered incoherently. Ren stood impatiently in front of the dressing room door.

"So do we have a deal or not?"

Yashiro narrowed his eyes. This guy only looks like a gentleman on the outside. I'm almost 100% sure he was a member of the Yakuza in a past life!

"Yashiro?"

Yashiro gave up.

"Fine, fine! Deal, lets do this." he muttered as he stalked past an amused Ren into the hallway and waited for him to lock the dressing room door. There had been way too many incidents of people sneaking into his dressing room, Yashiro shuddered as he remembered a woman they had found in his dressing room a month ago. It had been the final straw before the president had installed a high quality lock on the dressing room door. As they walked towards the elevators he heard to his horror.

"Tsuruga-san!" Ren grinned at him sadistically as they turned to see Kyoko and - did the heavens hate him? - Kotonami Kanae.

"Speak of the devil, what a fortuitous turn of events Yashiro." Ren said as the two approached.

Yashiro groaned inwardly. He was obviously hated by the heavens. He managed to hide it well enough in front of Ren, but the truth was, he really  _did_  like Kanae. She was strong, determined , and had a work ethic he strongly admired. She worked to the best of her abilities and never did things half - assed. She put her heart and soul into acting and he could see that she was fast becoming the same scary type of actor like Ren and Kyoko. She was also haughty, that he knew from experience. But he also knew that it was just a defense mechanism, designed to keep people at arms length from her. So far, it seemed that only Kyoko seemed to have gotten past her defenses. She was elegant today, dressed in a navy blue pencil skirt and a blue blazer with an off-white blouse. Her long black hair was out as usual and she was tastefully devoid of accessories except for a small handbag.

"psst Yashiro, you're staring." Yashiro came crashing back to reality as Ren nudged him lightly. He had distantly heard the girls say hello and looked to see them staring at him expectantly. He flushed.

"Oh, sorry, hello to you too ladies. How was your day?" Kyoko beamed.

"It was great! The shooting for Box-R is an amazing experience!. I honestly am having a lot of fun!... .which sounds weird doesn't it, since I'm bullying people in it?" Oh no! what if people think I really like to bullly people? oh my goodness I'm sorry!" Kyoko made to throw herself into a dogeza when Kanae shot an arm out, blocking her.

"Mo! Don't you get tired of doing that all time? Seriously, no one thinks you like to bully people,  _trust me_." Kyoko went all watery eyed.

"Moko-saaaaaan! you're such a nice friend!" with that Kyoko attempted to squeeze the life out of the black haired beauty. Yashiro decided to intervene before she lost conciousness.

"Ahh Kyoko-chan! That's alright, look Kotonami-san is turning blue!" Kyoko let Kanae go, apologizing profusely.

"Ahh so Mogami-san, " Ren said, desperate to ingratiate himself back into the conversation. "Have you seen the changes to the Dark Moon script for thursday?"

"What, they changed some thing? I haven't seen it yet. What is it ?"

"Well you see..."

Yashiro withdrew from their conversation, and glanced at Kanae, only to see her staring back at him.

"What?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips, unintentionally drawing attention to her lithe figure. " You've been staring at me this whole time like it's the first time you've ever seen me."

"n-no its nothing like that Kotonami-san, its just I haven't seen you in a while and you just seem different, that's all." Yashiro desperately hoped that would satisfy her. He caught sight of Ren behind Kanae, looking meaningfully at him, flicking his eyes towards Kanae purposefully. Yashiro closed his eyes. Ren was going to have a week full of his ingenious little revenge plans to look forward to soon. Payback would be sweet once this was over.

"Um, Kotonami-san, may I ask you something?"

_Go,_ Ren cheered silently as he drew himself and Kyoko away from the two. They needed privacy, meaning he couldn't be close enough to hear what they were saying. Sadly.

"Tsuruga-san?"

"Shhh." he said for once not paying attention to her. "Yashiro's trying to ask Kotonami-san out on a date." He heard a sharp intake of breath and realized his mistake. Shit. he'd forgotten about her.

"what -" Ren clapped a hand over her mouth. "Mogami-san, I wasn`t supposed to tell you that, but seeing as you know now,  _please_  don`t tell Kotonami-san, she shouldn't hear that from you. Yashiro wants to tell her himself.``

"But-" She began in a hushed voice.

"Kyoko, do you  _really_  think that Yashiro -  _Yashiro -_ would hurt her?"

Kyoko shook her head rapidly.

"That's not it Tsuruga-san. I just want to know, does he really love Moko-san?" Ren nodded and watched her eyes go misty and realized she was probably imagining Yashiro and Kotonami-san in some sort of fairytale setting in some lavish situation. He chuckled.

"Mogami-san?"

"Sorry. So he really does like her?" Ren nodded again.

"He's head over heels for her. He tries to hide it from, but I'm one his closest friends, I  _know_  when he likes someone. Well technically, Kanae is the first person he's  _really_  liked, but still. He keeps track of her progress all the time and he really is proud of how well she's making a name for herself already. You remember the roses that she received on the opening night of her drama with Hio-san?"

Kyoko nodded, already making the connections.

"Those were from Yashiro-san." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"You know, if she justs gives him a chance, she might just like what she sees." Ren said winking at Kyoko. Kyoko smiled at him and peeked over his shoulder at her best friend.

Kanae's normally composed face slackned as she stared at Yashiro blankly.

"I could've just sworn - and correct me if I'm wrong here Yashiro - that you just  _asked me out on a date_?"

 


	2. I Have a Date!!

"I couldve sworn - and correct me if I'm wrong here Yashiro - that you just asked me out on a  _date_?"

"Um, yes?" Yashiro looked at her hopefully. Kanae opened and closed her mouth several times without succesfully producing any sound. Yashiro was starting to worry that maybe he'd shocked her too much.

"Um, if it's alright with you, could..could I get back to you ...later...tomorrow ?" Taken aback, Yashiro just nodded mutely. Kanae did a half-bow and walked away, grabbing Kyoko by the arm on the way as she went. Ren strolled over, waving a cheerful goodbye to Kyoko.

"So?" Yashiro stared after Kanae's retreating back.

"She said she'd get back to me."

"That's ..good right? She didn't say no." Ren was starting to feel a  _tiny_  bit bad, watching Yashiro beginning to go half - mad with anxiousness. Yashiro ruffled a hand violently through his neat hair and threw his hands up.

"Argh I don't know!" he stalked down the hall towards Ren's next meeting, his charge not too far behind, chuckling in dark amusement.  _Now you know how I feel all the damn time._

LINELINELINELINELINE

From his giant screen monitor in the office Lory Takarada rolled on the floor laughing maniacally. His forever present butler didn't even bat an eye as his master danced around the room in merriment, even grabbing him in his joy.

"Sebastian, that was very well played by Ren don't you think?" Stoic as ever, he responded.

"Well, it was certainly a bold move sir."

"Indeed," mused the president."But I welcome love amongst all my employees and Yashiro has been alone far too long." he stayed silent watching Ren and Yashiro begin their script meeting with Director Ayazawa. "I approve!"

and the maniacal laughter began again.

LINELINELINELINELINE

Kanae walked into the love me room, dragging Kyoko in beside her.

"Moko-san?" Peering at her face, Kyoko noted that Kanae's face had gone pale.

"Here sit down, and drink this." She pushed the black haired woman into a nearby chair and gave her a water bottle from her bag. "Now what's the matter?"

"…...date..." Kanae mumbled incoherently. Kyoko cocked her head to the side.

"What?" Kanae suddenly exploded from her seat and shook Kyoko violently.

"HIS MANAGER ASKED ME OUT ON A DATE!"

Kyoko's eyes grew wide, though not at the confession but rather at her reaction.

"R-really?" She pried her fingers from her shoulders. "And this is bad? Do you not want to go?"

Kanae's finger's slackened completely and she started pacing.

"I-I don't know! I barely know him, and I've only talked to him a couple times, he seems nice. Though I can't understand for the life of me why he would ask _me_ out on a date! How am I supposed to say anything really?"

"So you said no?"

"I didn't say anything, I told him I'd get back to him later, tomorrow at the latest." She suddenly sank to the floor, clutching her head. "aaaah what am I going to do!" she moaned pitiously. Kyoko giggled and crouched next to her best friend.

"Moko-san!" Kanae looked at her. "What?"

"Look, I can't really tell you how to answer him. But I can tell you this. " She remembered Ren's earnest face as he described Yashiro's affection's for Kanae. "Yashiro-san is a kind, thoughtful man. He's sensible, practical, doesn't coddle you or act like a moron with women like that idiot on your set and he`s respectful and takes everyone`s wishes into account before he does anything. I don't think I`ve ever met a more capable man than Yashiro, even Ren`s not that capable. He's someone who at least deserves a chance." She studied Kanae's expression.

"You don't have to be his girlfriend, that's not what he's asking. He's just asking whether you will go out with him this time. If you end up liking him, then hey, all the better right? I mean what do you have to lose really? Worst case scenario, you guys don't click. I don't see that as a bad thing necessarily. At the very least you guys will become friends right? You'll get to know each other."

Kanae eyed Kyoko with exasperation.

"You know what I hate? when  _you_  of all people start to make sense." She stalked out of the room pretending not to see Kyoko stifling giggles at her act of frustration. The second she left, Kyoko broke into a fit of laughter which she cut off immediately as Kanae entered the room again, looking everywhere but at Kyoko.

"Do you have his number?" Kanae asked, eyes glued to the floor. Kyoko couldn't help but tease her.

"Whose number?" the girl in question shuffled her feet.

"Yashiro's." Kanae ground, silently promising to give Kyoko hell once this whole mess was over. Suspicously silent, Kyoko handed over her phone and stayed that way while Kanae punched Yashiro's number into her address book on her phone. She handed Kyoko back her phone and muttered a quick "Let's go."

Kyoko picked up her bag quickly from her locker and followed Kanae out.

"Go? Go where?"

"To look for him. I'd rather anwer him now and get it over with before I change my mind."

"Oh. Okay."

They walked into the hallway where Kyoko ran into Kanae's suddenly stationary back.

"Moko-san?"

"I'm such an idiot! I don't even know where he is! That baka!"

Kyoko smothered a giggle. This flustered Kanae was new to her, although she kind of liked it. It was cute. She nudged her with an elbow.

"well, why don't you text him? I mean after all that's what phones are for. Communication." Grumbling, Kanae dug her phone out of her bag and began typing.

 _Dear Yashiro-san_  - wait a second, that wasn't right. what, was she writing a letter? She tried again.

 _Yashiro-kun_  - She wrinkled her nose. Ew. She backspaced and typed.

 _Yashiro, it's Kotonami. Where are you ? Can we meet up for a minute?_  She hit send and waited.

LINELINELINELINELINELINE

"So as I was saying, Tsuruga-san, this script will truly test your skills. It has romance, drama and just enough of that WOW! factor to be the hit movie of the year! It's a passionate love. What do you say? Can count on you to do  _Passion Circus?_ " Ren sweatdropped but tried not to show it. Yashiro watched as yet another director pitched a script at since the release of Dark Moon, Ren had been getting all kinds of offers, though he had to admit, the one Director Ayazawa was pitching was singular in peculiarity.

" Is it alright if I could just have a moment to discuss with my manager?"

"o-oh ofcourse!" The director and his colleagues stared at them.

"um, alone if its not too much trouble."

"oh right. sorry. "

With that the director and his colleagues left the room, Yashiro and Ren sighed in relief.

"What in heaven's name was that? A passionate love? That script has you cast as a depressed clown that falls in love with a trapeze artist!" Ren grimaced.

"I know. When I said I wanted to try different roles, this isn't exactly what I had in -" he stopped as he heard a vibrating sound. Ren raised an eyebrow.

"Yashiro, are you  _buzzing?_ "

"What -oh, my phone." Yashiro snapped on some latex gloves and fished his phone out of his shirt pocket and slid it open.

"Who is it?" Ren asked when he saw Yashiro stare at the screen blankly. Yashiro turned the screen towards him. Ren quickly skimmed the contents of the message, taking the phone from him.

"Well, you should say yes." Ren said. Yashiro sat rigid, then lunged for the phone.

"Ren wait! I don't think I'm read for this!" Ren held the phone away from him.

"Yashiro, be a man, just let her talk to you. The worst she could say is no."

"You are the  _last_  person I want to hear that from!" Yashiro screeched. Ren rolled his eyes, he quickly typed a response, while fending off Yashiro and hit send.

"Done." Yashiro blanched and stopped stuggling.

"Ren please tell you didn't -" Smirking, Ren just threw the phone back to Yashiro, who caught it clumsily. Opening the message screen, Yashiro stared at the sent message in dismay.

_Sure. meet me on third floor lobby in front of the elevators.:D_

"REN WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THE SMILEY FACE?"

LINELINELINELINE

_Buzzzzzzzz_

"Kyaaa! He responded!" Kyoko squealed. Kanae read the message quickly and typed a response in the affirmative. She turned to Kyoko.

"Okay, I'm going. Wait for me here." Kyoko pouted and did as she was told...for about five minutes. The minute Kanae got in the elevator, Kyoko bolted up the staircase and found a niche in the wall near the elevator to spy on the could see Yashiro nervously pacing and then perk up as the sound of Kanae's heels traveled down the hallway in the opposite direction, towards him. he hurriedly straightened himself up.

"Mogami-san?" Kyoko nearly jumped out of her skin, hearing a low voice in her ears so close to her.

"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko gasped accusingly at him. "Tsuruga-san!" She whisper yelled. "it's not polite to sneak up on people!"

"It's also not polite to spy on them," he pointed out, gesturing to her position, smirking. "So I guess we're even." He leaned non-chalantly against the wall. Kyoko ground her teeth.  _Senpai or no, he's as infuriating as ever!_  She opened her mouth to respond but was quickly shushed by Ren.

"Shh, theyre talking!" he crouched down and hid with her. Which looked ridiculous, considering his size, but niether could bring themselves to care at the moment.

"Hi."

"Hey."

Kyoko and Ren sweatdropped.  _That was it?_

"So, um, you wanted to see me?" Yashiro hoped she couldn't hear how loudly his heart was thundering in his chest.

"Yeah, you weren't , uh, you weren't busy were you?"  _What the hell am I doing?_ Kanae slapped herself internally.

"Not really, I was just going over some script offers with Ren."

"Oh uh, did you see anything interesting?"  _Am I an idiot?_

"Define interesting. The script we were just pitched had Ren starring as a depressed semi-suicidal clown." Kanae momentarily forgot her nervousness.

"Are you serious? The great Tsuruga Ren as a  _clown_?" She couldn't hold back a light laugh. Yashiro loved that laugh, it was so endearing.

Kyoko glanced at Ren out of the corner of her eye and imagined him as a clown. She burst into a fit of giggles which she immediately stifled with her hands. Ren on the other hand was keeping a suspiciously stoic face.

"Well anything is possible in showbiz." Yashiro shrugged, smiling. "So, uh, what did you want to talk about?"

The awkwardness immediately re-manifested itself.

"Well, uh, I - uh..about before...what you asked..." Yashiro stiffened and Kanae looked everywhere but at Yashiro. "I was thinking, I mean I - Oh for Kami's sake!" Kanae threw up her hands in a sign of defeat. " I give up!" She marched over to a surprised Yashiro, standing so close that she could kiss him if she tried, Kanae poked him hard in the chest.

"Yes, I'll go out with you. This friday, six o clock. Pick me up from Kyoko's house, okay?" She stared him straight in the eye. It felt more like she was threatening him than agreeing to go on a date.

"o-okaay?" Yashiro said weakly, almost questioning. Kanae nodded in satisfaction and walked away. Beside Ren, Kyoko did a little victory squeal and dance with Ren. She highfived him and then ran towards the staircase to meet her best friend down stairs. Ren dusted himself off, before fast walking towards the conference room. fast walked. not ran. Tsuruga Ren didn't run unless he was required for a scene. As he walked away, Ren heard a distant exclaimation of

"Kami, I love her!"

LINELINELINELINE

A very composed Yashiro walked back into the conference room. Ren glanced at him over the script he was pretending to read.

"So?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "What did she want to talk about?"

Yashiro sat down in a chair across from him. A wide grin broke over his face.

"She said yes! I have a date this Friday with Kotonami Kanae at 6PM!" Ren smiled and clapped his manager on the shoulder.

"Congratulations!" He watched, surprise as Yashiro's face morphed from an expression of elation to one of dismay. He suddenly grabbed Ren by the lapels of his suit, pulling him closer.

"Ren," he said frantically, "I have a  _date_ with  _Kotonami Kanae this Friday!_  It's Wednesday! How am I going to organize the perfect date in two days!" Ren put his hands soothingly on his managers hands, now fisted in his suit.

"Yashiro - "

It was a to a scene of two men holding each other intimately that Director Ayazawa returned to. His face blanched and then flushed red as did his employees. They bowed hastily,

"I'm sorry! I didn't know I was interrupting!"

Ren and Yashiro looked at each other, and then down to their joined hands. Realization dawned on them and they sprang apart.

"W-wait!" Yashiro scrambled to his feet. "It's not - It's not what it looks like! He was just uhh - he was just comforting me!" Ren put a hand over his face. Yashiro was terrible at on the spot damage control. He stood up.

"Gentlemen, I assure you, what ever you thought was occurring here." He guestered between himself and Yashiro, "I assure it most  _certainly_  is not."

The director promptly began to apologize for jumping to conclusions.

"So - " Ren interrupted.

"That being said," Ren picked up his jacket and draped it neatly over his arm. "Either I or my office will get back to you soon regarding the script. It was a pleasure meeting you Director Ayazawa." With that Ren swept out of the room as Yashiro picked up his briefcase and followed him, echoing his farewell.


	3. I Hate You

That night, Kyoko sat, trying to memorize her lines for an upcomin Box-R episode but found that she couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept going back to the flushed look on Kanae's face when she came back from her rendezvous with Yashiro. She had wanted to call Tsuruga-san and ask how things had been on his end, but it seemed an awkward conversation to start and she couldn't figure out how to do it. Which is why she was sitting on her bed, staring at her cell phone like a fool instead of practicing. She sighed and flipped the page in her script, trying to focus.

_BZZZZZZZZZZ!_

A short, strong buzzing sound nearly startled Kyoko off the bed, she grabbed her phone and flipped it open without checking the Caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Mogami-san?"

"Tsuruga-san?"

"Who else?" He sounded slightly miffed at her lackluster reaction. She chuckled.

"Sorry Tsuruga-san, it's just I wanted to call you but I couldn't figure out how to and -" He interrupted what was sure to be a long winded speech that would probably include her apologizing for something no normal person would apologize for.

"Wait, you wanted to call me?" Ren's voice held a teasing note to it which Kyoko immediately picked up on.

"Tsuruga-san!" He could practically see the indignant pout on her face.

"Sorry," He said, the laughter eminent in his voice. "I couldn't help it."

"Sure." She said unbelievingly, rolling her eyes. This man, really, he didn't even act his age sometimes. She suspected that underneath that gentlemanly façade there was a real prankster lurking beneath the surface.

"Is something wrong Tsuruga-san? Its unlike you to call me at," she checked the time. "9 'o' clock at night." Ren sighed, and here was the root of the matter.

"Actually, Yashiro is going insane trying to plan this date to perfection, and I was wondering if you could give me some ideas of what to do." Kyoko smiled. It was like him to go out of his way to help a friend.

"That's so sweet! Well let's see," Kyoko thought a moment, "If he takes her out to eat, it should be a healthy place or something with healthy options, or he's going to have a grumpy Moko-san on his hands." She giggled, remembering all the times Kanae had inadvertently downed something unhealthy and her consequent mood afterwards.

"Okay, he...alth...cons...cious..." he drew the word, which made Kyoko raise her eyebrow in curiosity, why was he drawing out the word? Unless he was...

"Tsuruga-san, are you writing down what I'm telling you?" there was a short pause and then:

"Yes?" He sounded so much like a child caught red-handed with his hand in the cookie jar, that Kyoko couldn't help but start to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" He sounded embarrassed.

"Sorry, its just that its kinda cute."  _Crap, I've said something stupid again._

"Cu-" She cut him off before he could read too much into the offhand comment.

"A-anyways, Moko-san works constantly, she has a big family," Kyoko said, shuddering, thinking about the zoo-like situation that her best friend lived in. "So maybe a really relaxed date, like stress-free, you know? Where she doesn't have to really do anything and just be herself." She heard more furious scribbling. She smiled. It really was adorable. There was nothing wrong with admitting it to yourself right? She absent mindedly flipped the pages of her script and reached for her water bottle on her bedside table, taking a sip as Ren began to speak.

"Um Mogami-san, this is going to sound strange but -"  _Curse you Yashiro, the things I do for you!_  Ren thought, annoyed and slightly humiliated. "What does Kotonami-san like in a man? Has she ever expressed a preference to you?" He heard sounds of choking and sputtering on the other end.

"Her  _preference_?" She stifled a giggle. Poor Tsuruga-san, that was probably the last thing he wanted to talk to me about, but he's doing it for Yashiro-san. She thought for a moment."Well you have to remember this is Moko-san we're talking about here, she doesn't really talk about this sort of I don't think she has a type per se. More like certain qualities she likes and dislikes. And once again I'm only extrapolating on what I know of her as a person. We've never really had this sort of conversation before...uh...Yashiro-san entered the picture with his ..preposition for a lack of better words. I guess I can tell you about that."

"Okay, that sounds good." Ren sat at his kitchen table, phone sandwiched between his shoulder and ear, with a notepad, hand poised to begin writing.

"She hates conceitedness."

"Understandable."

"Smugness."

"That is irritating."

"Ignorance."

"Anyone would."

"Egoism."

"Infuriating."

"Disrespect."

"I hate that myself actually."

"Haha, I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to disrespect you Tsuruga-san." Kyoko laughed on the other end of the line. Ren smiled.

"Really? Who was it that accused me of helping people only if I got something out of it to further my own ulterior goals? Not to mention I seem to remember someone who quite disrespectfully flipped me the bird too." He teased, hearing a horrified silence on the other end.

"Oh my god! I was hoping you'd have forgotten that!" Kyoko wailed mortified. She was never going to be able face him again. She heard his deep laugh on the other and felt a pleasant shiver travel down her spine. He sounded so good when he laughed - NO! no no, no no no. No way. She was not going to go through this again. She could ignore this, whatever this was. Ren, not noticing anything in her silence decided to move on.

"Back to business, anything else I should know?"

"Um, I guess just that she probably wants what all women usually want. Someone with honesty, integrity, who will cherish her and allow her to cherish him in return. " There was a bitterness to her voice.

"Mogami-san.." This was spoken softly, almost sadly. It served just the amount of shock to jolt her out of her melancholy for the time being.

"A-also, she wants someone competent, since she's so competent herself. Although this is Yashiro-san we are talking about, I mean he handles your schedule for goodness sakes. If he's not competent I don't know who is."

"Indeed." Ren agreed. Suddenly, the doorbell chimed.

"Oh are you expecting company? I'm sorry, I must be keeping you -"

"Mogami-san. Who called who here?" Came Ren's stern voice as she heard distant voices and a door closing.

"You called me."

"Exactly, I'm not expecting company, I just ordered takeout." Upon hearing these words, the manager inside Kyoko came out, she narrowed her eyes.

" _Tsuruga-saaaan_...you're eating horrible fatty, oily foods aren't you?"

"I am not!' Ren protested.

"...What did you order?"

"...A Big Mac from McDonalds?" He had grown up in America after all. He craved American food sometimes. Even if it was fast food.

"I see." Ren could practically see Kyoko's black aura seeping through the phone.

"A Big Mac is perfectly healthy." Ren defended his food choice. "It has lettuce, tomatoes, onions and protein."

"Which was probably fried in super fatty oils Tsuruga-san! You have to eat properly, remember? Acting class 101!"

"Hai Hai." The clock in Ren's apartment began to chime and they realized it had struck 11 o' clock.

" Goodness, we've been on the phone for 2 and a half hours.'

"So we have." Ren could hear the tiredness begin to seep into her voice.

"What time do you have work tomorrow Tsuruga-san?"

"7 in the morning. You?"

"9 in the morning. You should go to sleep Tsuruga-san, you need to rest and even if you hang up now, it will still take you half an hour to be ready to go to bed. " Ren smiled, staying at his apartment the few time she had, had result in her memorizing his nightly routines.

"of course, you as well Mogami-san. I can hear you yawning like an infant." He grinned.

"Tsuruga-san! I do not yawn like an infant!"

"Mhm. Good night Mogami-san."

"Good night Tsuruga-san." As Kyoko made to hang up the phone she heard him whisper softly.

"Sweet dreams" Against her better judgement, she replied back.

"And to you as well." She quickly hung up the phone, burying her face in her pillow. What the hell did I just do?

Across the city, an astounded Tsuruga Ren sat, staring at his phone. Well, well, well, a smile broke out on his face.

LINELINELINE

When Ren picked up his manager the next day, he could tell the poor man had clearly not gotten any sleep the previous night. He was dressed to perfection as usual, the only indication of a night ill spent being in his bloodshot, tired eyes. Almost the second he got into the car, he bombarded Ren with questions.

"So did you talk to her? Did she say anything? What did she say? What does Kanae like? ..Oh my god, what if I can't be what she like or can't give her what she likes? I'm doomed! Doomed I tell you!" Ren couldn't hold back a snicker at his manager's predicament, seeing as it was the first time he had ever seen him so flustered.

" _Are you laughing at me?_  Ren, if you are laughing at me, Kami help me, I will put you through so much -"

"Yashiro, calm down!" Yashiro huffed irately.

" I don't see how you can act so nonchalant about this anyway, seeing as this is all your fau-" Yashiro stopped, ignoring Ren for the time being, who glanced quzzically at his manager;s sudden halt in conversation.  _Wait a minute. This is all Ren's fault that I asked her out, what was his end of the deal again? Ohhhhh._

"Ren I think you're forgetting something crucial here about this whole fiasco."

"Really?" He said, glancing at him, from his view on the road. "What would that be?"

"Your end of the deal. Remember that, you flirting Casanova?" Yashiro watched with ill-disguised glee as all the blood drained from Ren's face.

"That's right, you have to make a move on Kyoko-chaaaan." Yashir singsonged triumphantly.

"Wait, hang on - Yashiro, you remember our deal word for word right?"

"Yes?"

"Then what was it?"

"That you'd make a move on Kyoko-chan if I asked Kanae out and she agreed to date me."

"Right, which she hasn't."

"What? She said yes!"

"Yeah to go on a date with you. Not to be your girlfriend."

"...damn."

"You almost had me though." Ren laughed as they pulled into the underground parking lot of LME. "Oh before I forget, here." Ren reached into the dashboard on the passenger side and passed Yashiro a note pad of notes.

"What's this?" Yashiro looked curiously at the notepad, leafing through it.

"Research. I called Mogami-san like you asked, and that's what I ended up with."

"You wrote them down." Yashiro stared at him, fighting the urge to laugh. "Seriously?"

"Yes!" Ren threw his hands up in frustration. "Why is that so weird? Even Mogami-san laughed at me! I work so hard too! See if I ever help you again!" Miffed, Ren exited the car, a laughing Yashiro followed him out.

"Sorry, sorry! It's not weird at all! It's actually really helpful! I appreciate it, thanks." Yashiro continued to peruse the list as they headed towards the elevators, briefcase in hand.

"Ren, do you know a restaurant I could take Kanae to? Something that would have healthy options for her?"

Ren thought for a moment.

"There is one place..." The elevator dinged open and he stepped inside. "But it's going to cost you." He smirked as Yashiro groaned and followed him into the elevator.

"...I hate you."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE COMMENT


	4. That Ought to Be Illegal

In the LoveMe room Kanae and Kyoko stepped into their hideously bright pink jump suits, zipping them up.

"I swear! That president is not normal!" Kanae grumbled as she fixed her suit. "Most normal people wouldn't have such terrible taste in color!"

"Shhh! Moko-san! What if he hears you?" Kyoko glanced around the room nervously. "A-anyway, it's thanks to him that we were able to get into LME, otherwise we'd never have made it into showbiz. So I guess I can deal ... even if he does operate slightly off the norm."

"Slightly is an understatement."

"Aha. So have you decided what you're going to wear for your date? An outfit?" Kanae froze mid-way to the door.

"An outfit?"

"You know, articles of clothing put together to form an ensemble."

Kanae whirled around in a panic, dropping her bag. "Oh my god. How could I have forgotten something so important? I was so nervous with him asking me out and I forgot to plan my outfit" She ran to Kyoko, grabbing her shoulders.

"Kyoko you have to help me! We get off at the same time today right? Come shopping with me and help me pick out what to wear!" Watching Kyoko's eyes glaze over in excitement Kanae realized she'd made a crucial mistake and had pulled her trigger by mistake.

"Moko-san! Are you asking  _me_  to help you get ready for your date? We really  _are_  best friends!" Kyoko then proceeded to wrap her arms around Kanae in a suffocating hug.

"Mo!" Kanae squirmed in Kyoko's grasp, trying to unsuccessfully break free. "I told glasses-kun to pick me up from your place, so yeah, that's what I'm asking."

"Kyaa! This is going to be  _awesome!_  We'll primp and prep so much that you'll look just like a princess! It's going – wait, what did you just call him?"

"call who?"

"Yashiro-san! What did you just call him?"

"Glasses-kun?"

""Yes that! Moko-san, you can`t call him that! It's not polite!" Kyoko said as she finally let go and they walked to their first LoveMe assignment of the day.

"Why can't I? He  _does_  wear glasses."

"Moko-san," Kyoko looked exasperatedly at her friend. "By that logic we should be calling people who wear braces, 'braceface'." She made air quotes. "Do you see the problem?"

"Ugh fine." Kanae grumbled.

"Besides, what's wrong with his name?"

"...Nothing, I just like Glasses-kun better."

"Uh-huh."

LINELINELINE

_I'm going to go insane. Yep, completely and utterly mad is what I'm going to be by the time my date starts,_ Yashiro thought miserably. They were at a modeling shoot for Tokyo Passion Magazine and while Ren posed in front of the camera, Yashiro had managed to snag a reservation at L.A Point. Just the thought of the restaurant made him dizzy. He would have to pull out his best for the date just to fit in. But that was okay, what worried him was the after dinner scenario.

"Alright Tsuruga-san take 5 please!" Yashiro snapped out of his musings as the crew took a lunch break. Ren walked over to see that Yashiro was more stressed now than when he left him an hour ago.

"Ren what do I do?" Yashiro groaned, dropping his head into his hands. "I don't know what to do after dinner! Help me!" He made to grab Ren's shirt but was stopped.

"I'll help but quit grabbing me! The last thing I need is for Mogami-san to think I'm gay." Properly chastised, Yashiro pulled himself together.

"Sorry."

"It's fine. Now about your date," Ren looked thoughtful. "The restaurant is near the Tokyo Bay right?"

"Yeah?"

"So why don't you take her on a walk by the board walk at the Bay front? It's a pretty romantic place, I see couples there all the time. It's only June so it shouldn't be too cold at night."

Yashiro looked sceptical.

"Do you think she'd like that? It seems awfully simplistic." Ren shrugged.

" When I talked to Kyoko she said that Kanae has a large family and that she usually takes charge there and that she's usually pretty busy. She said that Kotonami-san would probably prefer a relaxed easy going date."

"Really? I didn't know that." Yashiro looked pensive. "You don't think I'm in her way do you, by asking her out I mean?"

"If you were, I`m pretty sure she would tell you. Kotonami-san doesn't tend to mince words." Ren grinned and Yashiro smiled back ruefully.

"I know. I'm not sure if I love it or if it scares me. The line is pretty fuzzy." Ren laughed freely at that, attracting some curious looks from others.

"That, Yashiro, is how all men feel about women."

LINELINELINE

"Mo! This is so frustrating! I can't find  _anything_!" Kanae grumbled, flipping through a rack of clothing. Kyoko laughed.

"Moko-san, we've only been here about 15 minutes. This kind of thing usually takes a while."

They had gone to a popular shopping district in downtown Tokyo right after work and had found themselves in  _Jean D'Arc_.

"Knowing Yashiro-san," Kyoko said aloud. "He's probably going to pick someplace fancy so some sort of evening wear is probably the best idea. That means no princess outfits then." She sighed, disappointed.

"Um what about this?" Kanae held up a slinky backless black dress that looked like it reached to a little above mid thigh. Kyoko blushed at the sight.

"Moko-san, if you wear that in front of Yashiro-san, he`s going to end up swimming in a pool of his own blood." Kanae hastily put the dress back on the rack. She wanted to dress to kill, but not  _literally_. She didn't think Tsuruga would appreciate her killing off his manager. She shook her head and went back to searching.

"Hmm," She heard Kyoko say and looked up. "I think I've found a few potentials. Do you have a color preference Moko-san?"

"As long as it's not pink, I don't care. I will  _never_  wear pink voluntarily again. Giggling, Kyoko hauled Kanae over to the dressing rooms and thrust her inside, handing her the first dress. It was a simple black cocktail dress. When Kanae came out, Kyoko squinted her eyes.

"What do you think?" Kanae did a semi-twirl in front of the mirror.

"Mmm...it's okay. But that's all it really is. It only looks good cause it's on you but otherwise it's average." The dress ended at mid thigh and sort of just skimmed over her curves. Kanae wrinkled her nose.

"I don't like it. It just sort of hangs loose. Let's try something else." Kyoko tossed her a short white dress. When Kanae came out this time, Kyoko made a small approving sound. This dress was a crisp white and fell becomingly to her knees. It was in a baby doll design with a sweet heart neckline, tight bust and then a flowing skirt that fell in long sheer pleats emphasizing her tall, lean body.

"I like it." Kyoko said smiling, expecting Kanae to agree with her.

"Hmm." Kanae hummed. "It's definitely nice, but it seems like something I would wear on a day out. I mean I'm going on a date with a25 year old man for goodness sakes! I should look a little more, I dunno, mature?" She looked frustrated at herself in the mirror. Kyoko smirked, a bit of Natsu seeping in uncharacteristically.

"So you're saying it should be sexy. Yashiro-san needs to look at you and say Kanae's sexy." Kanae blushed and turned away from Kyoko, arms crossed over her chest, the blush visible to the tips of her ears.

"Mo! Do you have another dress or are we moving to another store?"

"I have one more." Kyoko threw the dress at her, watching it land on her head as Kanae made an ill timed attempt to grab it.

"Mo!" She huffed, pulling it irately off her head and turning back into the dressing room ignoring Kyoko's laughter.

This time when she emerged from the change room, Kyoko's eyes widened and her mouth made a small astonished 'o'. This dress was everything Kanae was looking for and then some. It was a modest, despite being a powerfully suggestive deep red in color. It had a seamless design with a tasteful depth of a sweetheart neckline. This dress fell to knee length and hugged her body like a second skin. The blood red hue accentuated Kanae's pale skin and made her chocolate brown eyes sparkle. As Kanae spun in front of the mirror to get a good luck, Kyoko got up.

"So what do you think?'

"I - I  _love_  it! It's sexy, mature without looking skanky and I look like I could actually pass for a 20-something year old in this." Kanae smiled at herself in the mirror. In this, she felt like she matched Yashiro. She didn't know whether she liked him for sure or even if the date would go well, all she knew was that  _something_  attracted her to him and she would be damned if she didn't have the same effect on him. She turned to Kyoko.

"This is the dress. Now all I need are a couple of things to complete the outfit and I'm done." She stepped back into the change room to change into her casual clothes.

The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping for other accessories of the date. Kyoko managed to buy Kanae some items on the sly, despite her protests and when the girls finished, they collapsed on a bench in front of LME as the sky began to turn dark. It was about 8 o clock after all.

"Phew. I'm beat. I'm gonna go home now I think. What about you?"

Kanae threw her head back, letting her head hang over the back of the bench. Kyoko put her elbows on her knees and propped her heads up in her hands, tiredly surveying the multitude of bags in front of them, some of which belonged to her.

"I'd love to." She said. "But I have no idea how I'm going to ride my bike and hold these bags at the same time. I knew I shouldn't have bought so much." She moaned. " If it was one bag or even 5 I could have hung them of the handle bars just fine. But 10 bags is stretching it." Kyoko ran a hand over her face. "How're you getting home Moko-san?" Kanae answered her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"The subway obviously. Didn't you know that's how I get home?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow.

"You're going to carry 16 bags home by yourself?"

"I got this far didn't I?" She countered.

As they discussed how to get home, neither girl noticed a sleek grey sports car exit the LME underground parking lot and approach them until it pulled up alongside them. Kyoko and Kanae eyed the car apprehensively until the window rolled down to reveal Ren.

"Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko said surprised.

"In the flesh." Ren chuckled. "Good evening Mogami-san, Kotonami-san."

"G-good evening!" Kyoko hastily got up and bowed. She missed his slight frown at the action but it was gone when she straightened up. It didn't escape Kanae's notice however as she echoed the greeting.  _Honestly,_  she grumbled internally. _When is this romantically challenged moron going to see that the man is stupid in love with her._  She sighed and returned to the conversation.

"Where's Yashiro-san?" Kyoko asked.

"Ahh, he's still working. So I'm heading home first. So," he began. "What are two young women, such as yourselves doing camped out in front of LME with..." he surveyed the piles of bags around them. "half of Shibuya Cross in your shopping bags? What  _is_  all this anyway?"

Kanae and Kyoko looked at each other sheepishly.

"This is uh-" Kanae began but stopped, unsure of how to finish.

"This is preparation!" Kyoko said cheerfully. Kanae face palmed, she should have told her not to tell him.

"Prepar- ah." She looked up to see a knowing look in Ren's eyes. She flushed, suddenly feeling very juvenile and silly. Surely he would tell Yashiro and he would think she was an idiot. Kanae caught him surveying the bags again.

"so how are you ladies getting home today?"

"Oh well, Moko-san takes the subway home and I'm biking home as usual." Kyoko answered for the both of them. Ren looked sceptical.

"You're going to go home carrying such a multitude of bags? Kotonami-san I don't think you'll even be able to fit through the subway doors with so many bags. Tell you what, " He got out of his car and walked around to their side,

"Why don't I give you a ride home?" He said, opening the back door with a smile. Kyoko's mouth dropped open as she protested.

"I couldn't! You just got off! I couldn't inconvenience you like that!"

"Mogami-san, you're talented, I give you that, but even you aren't so talented that you can carry 10 bags and drive a bike at the same time." He smirked manipulatively. "Besides, you wouldn't do something so impolite such as refuse an offer of help from your respected sempai, would you?"

Kyoko gave a small  _eep_ of terror at the implied threat and hurriedly apologized. Kanae rolled her eyes; Kyoko couldn't even see how she was completely wrapped around his finger.  _He's such a manipulator_ , Kanae thought amused, as they picked up Kyoko's bike stuffing it in the trunk along with some of the shopping bags and put the rest in the back seat.

Once again, Kyoko refused to capitalize on the front seat and as only one person could sit in the back seat that left Kanae with the  _"honour"_  of sitting shotgun.

Kyoko's house was closer, so they dropped her off, Kanae and Ren getting out to help her with her bags, despite Kyoko's protest. Getting back in the car, Kanae suddenly realized she was alone in the car with her date's best friends and her best friend's potential boyfriend.

Talk about awkward situations.

"Um." She ventured. This was going to kill her, Kotonami Kanae didn't ask favours from  _anybody_.

"If possible, could you not mention this," she gestured around her, "to Yashiro?" Ren gave her a sidelong glance, before returning his gaze to the road.

"and what's in it for me?" It took Kanae a couple moments to realize that he was teasing her. She gaped at him, thinking inwardly, how was he acting so ...familiar?

Ren caught her staring at him and thought maybe he'd gone too far. His expression turned apologetic.

"Sorry, I get a little childish sometimes and- "

Kanae held up a hand, stopping him.

"It's not that. I just didn't know you knew how to tease someone. Guess you really are human after all." She said the last line with a smile. Ren saw this and couldn't help but grin back. Kanae somehow reminded him of friends he used to have back when he lived in America. It made him seem like he was 14 all over again.

"Yes, its amazing, Tsuruga Ren actually happens to be human." He laughed. "Don't worry, I won't tell him. Although, if I may be so bold, can I ask why would it matter?"

Kanae flushed again. Turning her face to the window, she watched the night time scenery go by.

"I'm supposed to look effortless, like I could pull the look off without any preparation. If you told him, he'd know how much I would have to prepare to look like that and then there would be no point. Anyways, I can't even understand why he would ask  _me_ of allpeople out." Ren smiled inwardly, who knew Kotonami Kanae had such a  _cute_  side to her. He pulled up in front of a modest middle class home. They both got out of the car, Ren opening the trunk to pull out her shopping bags.

"Hey, its okay, I can carry them myself!" Kanae protested. Ren gave her a stern glare.

"I think I could hardly call myself a good friend if I let Mogami-san's best friend carry all her bags herself and just stood there watching her. Besides," Ren said giving her a once over, causing her to blush. "About the effortless bit, I think you're fine the way you are. Yashiro likes the Kotonami Kanae he sees everyday that he's attracted to. The confident woman he sees is who he likes and that's why he asked you out, you are so sure and so determined about everything you do. That's the draw I think. You don't need to change anything about yourself."

Putting the last bag on her doorstep, Ren did a shallow bow and returned to his car waving to Kanae as he drove off. Kanae waved back mechanically and as soon as he rounded the corner, Kanae's legs gave out from under her, and she collapsed lightly onto the ground.

_That man! The things he says and does ought to be illegal!_


	5. Hated By The Gods

The next day, Friday (doomsday as Kanae had come to think of it), as the work day finished up, Kanae dryly noticed Kyoko becoming more and more antsy and excited. She clearly couldn't wait to get Kanae home to fix her up for her date. As they walked towards the exit, she heard a childish voice yell

"One-saaaaaaaaaaan!" and turned to see Takarada Maria running full pelt towards the two of them, the president, clad in some sort of a loin cloth and an extravagant large gold necklace, in tow. Maria tackled Kyoko to the ground in her excitement as Kanae bowed her greetings to the president.

"Good evening ladies, on your way out I presume?" Lory said jovially, eyeing Kanae with a sort of glee she had always been taught to be wary of.

"Yes sir," they replied politely, trying not to show the discomfort they felt. Today the president was dressed as an Amazon king, and as such carried his pet snake around like a prized possession. His pet was decidedly too close to Kanae for her comfort.

"Onee-san, are you free tonight? I just got a new voodoo set and I wanted to try it out with you!" Maria said earnestly. Seeing the eager look on her face, Kanae almost felt bad that her date was tonight, since it would ruin Maria's plans. But since she was talking to Kyoko, Kanae decided to let her do the talking.

"Oh I'm sorry sweetheart, but I can't. Not today, I'm helping Moko-san get ready for a da-mmph!" Kyoko was cut off as Kanae clapped a hand over her best friend's mouth.

"IDIOT!" She whisper-yelled in her ear. "Tell the whole damn world why don't you?"

"Kanae-onee-san?" Kanae felt a tugging on her pant leg.  _Onee-san?_

"Yes?" The look she was giving Kanae and the look she was jointly receiving from the president were making her  _very_  nervous.

"Who's your date?" kanae let go of Kyoko to scratch the back of her head sheepishly.

"Yashiro." She muttered, not meeting their eyes, choosing instead to look down the hallway. But alas, it seemed Fortune was having fun at her expense, for at that very moment, who should round the corner and turn into the hallway but Yashiro and his charge. Kanae's eyes widened as her heart started beating frantically and she started becoming short of breath just at the sight of him. She saw the corners of his lips curve into a smile and almost fainted right there.

Almost instinctively, Kanae grabbed Kyoko and bolted from the building, dragging the poor girl behind her. She finally stopped at the entrance to the subway station a block from LME. Both girls were breathing hard, bent over, trying to catch their breaths. Kanae felt a hot blush settle over her face as she remembered the way he walked, the way he smiled. Just seeing him made her feel incredibly nervous.

"Moko-san?" Kyoko stood next to her, eyeing her worriedly. "You okay?"

"Fine, just fine." Kanae waved her hands dismissively, straightening and dusting herself off.

"Really?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "So why did you run when Yashiro-san came around the corner?"

"Did he?" Kanae said unconvincingly. "I didn't notice. I just wanted to get away from our crazy president and his insane pet." She crossed her arms and looked away, though her blush clearly told the story,

"Right." Kyoko said, shaking her head. The two girls made their way onto the trains, stopping at a stop that was a five minute walk to the Darumya. As they entered, Kyoko introduced Kanae to her landlords.

"Okami-san, Taisho-san, this is Kotonami Kanae, she works as an actress as well." Kanae bowed respectfully since Kyoko clearly gave these two guardians of hers the same respect as she would a parental figure. Taisho paused in his chopping of vegetables to look Kanae up and down, he returned to work with only a low grunt of acknowledgement. Okami-san smiled cheerily.

"Oh don't mind him dearie. He's always a grumpy sour-puss. Kyoko has told us so much about you!" she gave Kanae a hug and then held her at arms length to look her up and down.

"I can see Kyoko was certainly not exaggerating about your beauty, Kotonami-san." Kanae blushed. "Well, I hear you're here today to prepare for a  _very_  special occasion." She winked at Kanae who wished the floor would just open up and swallow her whole as she shot Kyoko a dirty look. "You girls just have fun getting ready and make yourself right at home." Kyoko pecked her on the cheek and then bounded up the stairs Kanae in tow.

Kanae entered the room and looked around, dryly noting the posters of Fuwa Sho and Tsuruga Ren on the wall. Although Fuwa's poster looked like it had been through hell and back, Ren's poster looked positively pristine.  _Actually,_ Kanae thought,  _it wouldn't surprise me if she_ _ **did**_ _use his face as a dartboard._  She put her bag down as Kyoko whirled to face her, looking like an excited puppy, dilated pupils and all. Suddenly, Kanae was a little scared.

"Alright, you need to shower! It's 4:30 and Yashiro-san will be here at 6! You can be sure he'll arrive at 6PM on the dot since he's so punctual!" Without giving Kanae a chance to speak, she was thrust into the bathroom an had the door shut decisively behind her. She laughed wryly to herself as she stripped and got in the shower. She emerged 10 minutes later feeling completely rejuvenated and  _alive._ Seeing Kanae re-enter the room, Kyoko motioned for Kanae to come sit at her chair in front of a large mirror. Kyoko began to run fingers coated with anti-tangle cream through her hair and then blow dry it.

"So," Kyoko began conversationally as she blow dried her hair. "Are you nervous for your date?"

"No." Kanae was quick to reply. Seeing Kyoko smile knowingly at her, Kanae slumped.

"I'm not just nervous, I'm  _terrified._  What if he doesn't like me? What if something goes wrong? I'd die if something went wrong! I'd never be able to look him in the face again." Kanae sighed. He just made her so damn  _nervous._ She didn't even want to know how she'd be feeling when he actually showed up.

"Relax," Kyoko said as she put the hair dryer down. "Worrying isn't going to do anything except make you awkward when he arrives. Just relax and be yourself, after all that's who he fell for." She winked at her as Kanae smiled back at her gratefully, then schooled her face suddenly back to her usual demeanor. "Okay I'm done!" Kyoko announced, stepping back to admire her work. Kanae looked in the mirror and saw to her astonishment that her normally average-looking hair suddenly looked like it had just come out of a shampoo commercial. It was silky smooth and straight, just the way Kanae preferred it. She had been adamant that she didn't want to look like she'd especially made herself up for the man. Something in her pride just held her back from doing that. Kyoko suddenly yanked Kanae out of the chair.

"hurry and get dressed! it's already 5PM and we still have make-up, jewelry and accessories to do!" Kanae was suddenly caught in a whirlwind of activity as Kyoko practically manhandled her into getting ready. When she was finally done, and Kyoko stepped back to see the results, Kanae couldn't help but feel pleased when Kyoko's mouth open in shock and her eyes watered. The dressed hugged Kanae's curves in all the right ways, making her legs look pale and long. Her straight hair was pushed to one side, a small crystal pin holding it place. Her eyes lightly rimmed with kohl and her lips a plump juicy red, Kanae was the picture of seductive beauty.

"Oh my goodness!" She squealed in delight. "Moko-san you're  _beautiful!_ Yashiro is just going to fall to pieces when he sees you! I've never seen anything so  _gorgeous!"_ Kanae blushed.

"Kyoko-"

"Oh my." They turned to see Okami-san in the doorway, hand over her mouth. "My dear, you look so  _precious."_ She eyed the outfit. " Something is missing though, don't you think?" She seemed to think a moment before her eyes lit up and she held up a finger. "I'll be right back!" True to her word, she bustled back in moments later, carrying a red sheer wrap the same color as Kanae's dress. She draped it becomingly around Kanae's arms and shoulders and hummed her approval.

"Goodness, the poor boy will never know what hit him." Okami-san said, with a twinkle in her eyes. Kanae smiled gratefully, though somewhat embarrassed. Suddenly the women froze as the doorbell sounded through the house. They heard the distinct murmuring of voices as Taisho-san opened the door. A few minutes passed and then:

"Kyoko, there's a man asking for Kotonami! He's got flowers or something!" Kyoko, Kanae and Okami-san burst into giggles at that sentence despite the tension. They called back that they would be down in a minute.

"Ooh, I bet Yashiro-san  _loved_  that." Kyoko said in a low voice as she grabbed Kanae's purse and handed it to her. Okami-san's eyes widened as she looked back and forth between the two girls.

"Yashiro-san? As in Tsuruga-san's manager?" At Kanae's sheepish nod, Okami-san smiled knowingly. "Well, we best get you downstairs then. As they descended the stairs, Kanae felt her heart begin beat erratically in her chest. This was it. This is what it all came down to. The next few hours could be positively life changing for her. Now whether that change would be good or bad she didn't know, she just knew that like it or not, the relationship that she and Yashiro shared would be forever changed after this night. Feeling like her heart would burst right out of her chest, she saw Okami-san and Kyoko turn around and smile reassuringly to her, as if they could read the insecure thoughts in her mind. They stopped right before she went out in front of Yashiro, Kyoko giving her hands a light squeeze and leaning forward to whisper

"Relax." in her ear before Kyoko and Okami-san went out to greet Yashiro first.

"Kyaa, Yashiro-san, you look so  _handsome_  in a suit!"

"Ah-ha, thanks Kyoko-chan." Yashiro said back, Kanae heard with some satisfaction that he seemed nervous as well.

"I can see your eyes wandering Yashiro-san," Kyoko teased. "Don't worry, your date is just around the corner." Okami-san motioned for Kanae to step into the landing. Kanae took a deep breath.  _Relax._  She told herself sternly. She forced all her anxieties and doubts to the side, breathed deeply again and rounded the corner.

LINELINELINELINE

_That's it. I've died._  Yashiro thought in a daze.  _I've died and gone to heaven._  To him, it seemed the only logical explaination for the sight before him. When Kanae had rounded the corner, he had felt all the wind being knocked out of him in one fell swoop. He'd never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. Kanae just seemed to  _glow_  with otherworldly beauty, which both enthralled and frightened him at the same time. He struggled with his words as he thrust the bouquet of lilies and orchids at her.

"H-here! These are for you!" Kanae smiled at him and took the flowers, touching them with one finger lightly.

"Thank you Yashiro. Theyre beautiful."  _Not as beautiful as you,_ he wanted to say, but bit his tongue. That wasn't something you said with this kind of audience he thought, keenly aware of Kyoko-chan's Taisho's eyes on him. Yashiro turned and bowed to him.

"I will have her back here by 10:00 o clock if that is alright with you sir." Taisho just nodded.

"Hn." Okami-san then shooed them out the door, as Kanae looped an arm through his offered one and walked out the door. Kyoko waved as she was escorted to the car and got in.

As they pulled on to the main road, Kanae was the first to speak.

"Why the latex gloves? I thought you were only bad with technology."

"This car is a hybrid." He said as he pulled onto the highway. From here it was just a twenty minute drive to LA Point.

"Oh."

"It's just a precaution really, but this isn't a car I'm going to experiment on. Besides I haven't driven a car in a while either."

"You better not crash."

"Trust me, I have no plans of dying any time soon."

"I should hope not. So, where are we going?" Kanae crossed her legs, causing Yashiro, who was looking at her out of the corner of her eyes, to gulp involuntarily.

"You'll see." He distracted himself by taking pleasure in Kanae's curious expression.

"Tell me."

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Uh-uh."

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Really, Kotonami-san?"

"It was worth a try."

LINELINELINE

As Kyoko closed the door behind them, she couldn't help but feel lonely. Okami-san had immediately bustled back into the kitchen to help Taisho. Kyoko had wanted to help as well but was firmly told to go upstairs and relax. She thought on her way up the stairs.  _If love can make people look like that...it can't be_ _ **all**_ _bad, can it?_  She was so deep in thought by the time she reached her room, Kyoko almost missed the sound of her cell phone vibrating on her desk. Smiling as she saw the caller ID, she picked up.

"Good evening Tsuruga-san." She said cheerily into the phone.

"And to you Mogami-san." His low voice caused Kyoko to shiver involuntarily. She forced herself to pay attention to the conversation.

"So to what do I owe the honor of your phone call?" Ren chuckled.

"Just wondering if those two had left yet."

"Oh yeah, Yashiro-san came by about 10 minutes ago, and they just left."

"Oh that's good to hear, actually, I was wondering if you wanted some company tonight. I'm feeling awfully lonely." Kyoko bit her lip. On any other night, she would've rushed over, but today Kanae was staying over and she'd be home soon.

"I'm sorry Tsuruga-san," Kyoko said apologetically in to the phone. "I would love to, but Moko-san will be back in about 3-4 hours and I can't make it to your house and back in that much time and have it still be worthwhile." She hoped he would understand and was genuinely surprised as she heard him laugh heartily into the phone.

"Why are you laughing?" She asked petulantly. And she gone to all that trouble just to be nice to him too!

"I never asked you to come over Mogami-san." Kyoko flushed. Had she misinterpreted his words somehow?

"Wha-"

"I asked if  _you_  wanted some company. I'm standing right in front of the Darumya." Kyoko gaped at her phone and then ran to her window and peeked out. Sure enough, there he was in all his glory, leaning on the hood of his silver sports car, wearing a baseball cap while talking on the phone and looking up at her, waving. Kyoko dropped her phone and ran to the front door and out. As she stopped a foot away from the tall man, breathless and glaring at him indignantly.

"Tsuruga-san! Why didn't you say anything?" She asked him, looking into his face, though it semi-obscured by his hat.

"I did. I called you, remember?" He waved his phone in front of her, grinning. Kyoko rolled her eyes and glanced at his car.

"A-anyways, you need to park your car and then come inside. You're way too conspicuous here."

"Okay, only if you come with me though." Grumbling, Kyoko sat inside the car and they reparked elsewhere. Laughing and talking they made their way back inside the house, where her Okami-san ran into them. She introduced them to him and Okami-san quickly grabbed him and subjected him to the same hug she gave Kanae. Which was odd, considering the difference in height.

"Oh my, what a dashing young man you are!" She bubbled, looking him up and down. She glanced at her husband. "Say hello to our guest dear." Taisho looked him over and locked eyes with Ren, freezing him to the spot.

_He knows._ Ren thought.  _Dear god, he only looked at me once and he_ _ **knows**_ **!** Ren bowed politely to him.

"Good evening sir." Taisho lopped the head off a fish with particular vehemence.

"Hn." Ren winced as the blade came down again, with a vicious thud.  _Great, just great. Piss off the girls father - or father figure as it were - right from the start. Bravo._ He deadpanned internally.  _Well done._

"Oh don't mind him. He's always like that." Okami-san eyed Ren again, making him wonder just what was so fascinating about him. "My Kyoko-chan, you weren't exaggerating when you said he's far more handsome in real life than on TV." Ren raised an eyebrow and glanced at Kyoko who had gone fire truck red, from the nape of her neck to her hairline. Ren disguised a laugh as a cough, which didn't go unnoticed by Kyoko, who shot him a dirty look.

"Why don't you two kids go on upstairs, I'll bring some refreshments up soon." Okami-san smiled at them. Kyoko protested as predicted.

"Oh no Okami-san, it's alright, I'll do that -" Okami-san pushed the two lightly towards the stairs.

"Oh but I insist Kyoko-chan. Now, on you go." Silently, they climbed the stairs and entered her bedroom.

Walking in, Ren caught sight of two posters on the wall. One of himself and the other of the Fuwa brat, as Ren had come to call him.

"Tsuruga-san -" Kyoko's eyes widened and she cut off mid-sentence as she saw what he was looking at. Letting out a small shriek, she threw herself at them, using her body to cover up the embarrassing pictures.

"These are -um well - I mean - they're not -" Ren leaned against the door frame of the entrance to her room, quirking an eyebrow, watching as she struggled to put together a coherent sentence.

"They're what?" He asked, holding back the urge to laugh.

"It's just for - for - for motivation!" She said lamely. It wasn't  _completely_  a lie, though she wasn't about to tell him that she used Sho's face for target practice.

"I see." Ren said. She looked up to see a thoughtful expression on his face. "If those are for 'motivation'" he made air quotes, still leaning languidly on the door frame, smiling slightly as if amused at a secret joke. "Then what are  _those_  for?" He pointed at something on the shelf above her head. She looked up to see her entire collection of Tsuruga Ren dolls sitting on the shelf and felt her face drain of blood.

"Gyaaah!" She vaulted off the wall and launched herself at him, trying to cover his eyes with her hands.

"Don't look! You're not allowed to look!" Ren, startled by the sudden attack, retreated into the room, promptly tripping over her kotatsu table, and falling, taking Kyoko with him. When he opened his eyes, he saw a scene he'd only ever witnessed in his dreams. There was Kyoko, calm as day, straddling his waist, clad in only her pajama bottoms and a graphic t-shirt, with a generously low neck he might add. He groaned inwardly and covered his eyes with the palms of his hands.

_Why do the gods hate me?_


	6. Who Said He Was Alone?

**"** It's a surprise Kotonami-san, let's just leave it at that." Yashiro glanced at Kanae out of the corner of her eyes. "By the way, I didn't get a chance to say it earlier because of the ...audience.. we had, but you look amazing tonight. Red is definitely your color." Kanae felt a warm heat spread up the back of her neck as she struggled not to melt into a pile of goo. She would not let him make her turn to putty in her hands. It was just a compliment! What was she getting so excited for?

"T-thanks, you're not so bad yourself. It's the first time I've seen you in a fully formal suit." Yashiro smiled in reply. Kanae remembered how mortified she had felt when she'd seen him tonight at the Darumya. The only way she could explain those feelings to herself was that any man she had ever felt remotely attracted to before in her life were  _nothing_ compared to Yashiro. He was tall, mature, and seemed to her the epitome of masculinity. She couldn't take her eyes off him until Kyoko had stepped on her foot lightly to jolt her out her daze. After all, what kind of a date would it be if your partner was practically unconscious. His brown hair had seemed to glisten, and his eyes seemed to smolder with an intensity she was almost afraid of. In fact, she  _was_  afraid. Afraid of how much she was starting to like him. It seemed she just started to find good things about him and couldn't stop. Everything she across, be it flaws or benefits, made her like him just a little bit more.

Yashiro watched Kanae out of the corner of his eyes as he drove. She had been staring at him point blank for at least five minutes now. It was interesting to see her thoughts flit across her face, it was clear she was having a deeply introspective moment. Yashiro decided to have a bit of fun, to try and distract him from the butterflies in his stomach.

"Kotonami-san, you're making me shy. You stare so intensly!' Kanae yelped as she realized what she had been doing and quickly glued her eyes to the road.

"S-sorry!" Yashiro chuckled as they pulled into the restaurant and watched amused as Kanae's eyes widened to the size of small saucers. She turned to him, surprise etched on her face as she recognized their location.

"You - wha - this - huhhhh?" She gaped at him. " This is LA Point! I heard it's near impossible to make a reservation!" Yashiro winked as he helped Kanae out of the car.

"Well, I'm not Ren's manager for nothing." He couldn't help but be struck by a sudden bout of nervousness. This was it. Their date had finally begun. He couldn't afford to screw up, and even if he did, he had to make sure he could save the date. Otherwise everything would be kaput. There would be no point in anything.

As a waiter lead them to their reserved tables and they placed their orders, they began a light conversation. Sort of.

"I have to say," Kanae said, twirling a piece of hair with her finger as she leaned on the table. "I was pretty surprised when you asked me out. That was the last thing I expected."

"Trust me, I was pretty surprised too." Yashiro muttered darkly.

"What?"

"Nothing. I mean, I was surprised I was able to go ahead and do it." Kanae blinked.

"What's so scary about asking me out?" She asked, curious.

"It's not - well, I mean isn't everyone afraid of rejection?" Kanae stared at him as he helped the waiter set down their dinner. A braised lamb with a glazed apricot sauce for Yashiro and a simple dish of sauteed fish for Kanae. He then poured some light champangne for and himself, settling back into their conversation.

"Wait a second, who in their right mind would reject you?" She sounded so genuinely surprised that Yashiro couldn't help but chuckle.

"Think about it, you are 16 right?"

"yeah so?"

"I happen to be 25. A full 9 years older than you. I was deathly afraid you'd think I was being a perverted old man and would reject me." Kanae giggled.

"Seriously you're not that old. That can't be the only reason."

"Well you're you and I'm...well, I'm me." Yashiro said, sighing as he continued to eat. Kanae quirked an eyebrow at the cryptic answer.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Yashiro smiled as he tried to steer the conversation into happier territory.

"So, how is work for you Kotonami-san?" Kanae sensed he was asking her not to pry further and silently decided to go along with it. She'd get it out of him sooner or later. He couldn't be much harder to crack than Kyoko. And she could be pretty tough. But once you used the right leverage, information came pouring out.

"It's going well. I'm looking at some new projects now." She sighed thinking about her meager choices.

"Really? What are they? Ah, if you don't mind me asking that is." He said, backtracking in case he'd overstepped his boundries. Kanae thought,  _it would be beneficial to talk to him. After all, he_ _ **is**_ _a manager. He could help me._

"Well," She said, spearing a piece of fish and chewing it delicately. "I have a couple. One is for the role of a highschool girl who has a dual personality. When she's been pushed too far, she snaps and goes into an alter ego type thing." Yashiro nodded.

"Oh one of those MPD stories."

"What?"

"MPD, Multiple Personality Disorder. You know when a person seems to have two or more substantially different personalites. Such as sweet and meek which turns to vindictive and assertive in this case." Kanae nodded her understanding. "Go on, what else?"

"Well, I got a transcript for an acting gig that's super short but high publicity." She grimaced, making Yashiro raise an eyebrow.

"What's so bad about that?" Kanae stabbed a piece of fish with particular viciousness.

"The actor opposite me is that Fuwa brat." Yashiro realized that Kanae didn't know if she could control her hatred for the boy while she worked with him.

"So you're worried that you might accidentally, I dunno, take an arm off during shooting?" He said, the ghost of a smile on his face. Kanae smiled wryly back at him.

"If he's lucky." She said with a wink. Eating the last of their meals, they motioned for the waiter and paid the bill. Yashiro of course paid it and added a generous tip for him.

Walking outside, Kanae saw that it had turned into that magical time right before night fell right after sunset. She took a deep breath of the night air, savoring it. Yashiro came out behind her.

"Would you like to go for a walk, Kotonami-san? The dock is just that way." Kanae looked to her right, in the direction that Yashiro was pointing at. She could see the outline of a boardwalk and splashing water. Across the lake, she could see the sparkling skyline of Tokyo city and sighed in appreciation of the sight.

"I would love to." She said, linking an arm into his offered one and strolled alongside him. As they began their walk down the boardwalk, Kanae voiced a question that had been on her mind.

"Yashiro."

"Hmm?" He said, looking out at the water, seemingly in thought.

"Why did you ask me out?" She asked. Yashiro stopped walking and turned to face her. They had come to a stop near a sort of balcony that jutted out ornately over the water in a semi-circle.

"Are you asking me why I asked you out or why I like you?" He smiled as Kanae flushed and lightly hit him on the shoulder.

"Mou. You know what I mean." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned on the edge of the semi-circle, where it reconnected with the boardwalk.

"I guess the easiest way to explain it is that I like you for a couple of reasons. But that doesn't mean those are the only reasons. If I got around to listing them, I'd be 80." He smiled at her then continued. "I like your directness. The way you aren't afraid to speak your mind, and that you know how to do that without making it look like you're picking a fight. I also like you because you have a love for everything you do in life that I don't see often. But really, the real reason I like you I because you're you. Kotonami-san is Kotonami-san. And you aren't afraid t be that way. You don't feel the need to hide any part of you. You aren't ashamed of yourself." Kanae tilted her head in confusion when she heard a strange wistfulness in his voice. He sighed as he turned to her, from looking over the balcony at the Tokyo Skyline, the wind ruffling his hair.

"I guess I just envy how strong you are a little too. You're everything I'm not and I like that." Kanae's eyes widened and she stepped towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yashiro-"

"Yashiro? Yashiro Yukihito?" Kanae watched as Yashiro eye's widened in recognition of the voice and he stiffened at the sound of the female voice. He turned around quickly, pushing Kanae behind him with one hand, hiding her body with his. If this was who he thought it was, he didn't want them seeing Kanae. Walking towards them, Kanae saw over his shoulder, was a large group of people. At least 20 by the looks of it. The woman who spoke seemed about Yashiro's age. Looking her up and down and taking in her designer apparel, Kanae realized with some disdain, that this was someone who valued appearances of the material kind greatly.

"Ah! I was right!" The woman exclaimed, pointing at Yashiro excitedly. She was small, but busty, and by her outfit, Kanae saw that she clearly was in the habit of using her assets to her advantage. She noted Yashiro adopting a stiff smile that didn't reach his eyes. Kanae had no idea that Yashiro could even look like that. He was normally so warm and kind.

"Ah, Megumi-san?" Yashiro tried to keep his voice even. Kanae observed the group of men and women who were obviously out for a night of drinking. There was something off about them that she could sense, and if Yashiro's behavior was anything to go by, their appearance was clearly not welcome.

A man walked up next to Megumi and slung an arm possessively around her waist, delving a little lower than it should have been. Kyoko rolled her eyes, unseen by the group.  _Great, a stupid couple._

"Hey, Megumi, who is this guy?" Kanae saw Yashiro bristle at the condescending tone in his voice, clearly recognizing the man as well.

"You don't remember Tsakasu?"" Megumi asked in a sickly sweet voice. Kanae shuddered.  _Good god. She was_ _ **that**_ _kind of woman._  "He was the guy who forced himself on me in our second year." Kanae saw her give Yashiro an evil little smirk, as unknown to them, her eyes widened at the accusation. Megumi wrinkled her nose in disgust as Tsakasu's expression turned angry and mocking.

"Oh it's  _you._  The dweeb who was  _always_  studying. You know, I always said he'd snap one day because he couldn't get laid." Yashiro's face turned indignant.

"Wha-I never forced myself on you! I'd never seen you before that day! You kissed me!" The group burst out laughing as if amazed by the return accusation. Like the idea itself was absurd to the core.

"Megumi? Kiss you?" One of the girls looked Yashiro up and down and made a gagging face. "Please."

"Kanako is right. Seriously, dream only when you're sleeping will you?" There was more laughter as a voice from the back supported Kanako. Yashiro clenched his fists in rage. He tried to calm down, reminding himself that just because they didn't see Kanae, it didn't mean she wasn't there.  _Relax!_  He told himself.  _It's no good to get into an argument about it with them. It's been over and done with for a long time. Even if the truth comes out, the past is already gone. That won't change. Just. Calm. Down._

Behind him, Kanae's eyes softened as she realized that Yashiro had decided not to fight back. She didn't believe the crap they were saying about him, and his behavior only cemented that belief. He wouldn't fight back, she knew, because it may bother him, but it was in the past and he didn't see the point in arguing about something that couldn't be changed.

"So what are you doing these days smarty pants? You were always so smug about how smart you were. 'First in everything' " Tsakasu said mockingly, making air quotes. "Where did all those smarts go? You ain't so hot now dweeb. You were always a loser and always will be." Yashiro clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to make his expression neutral. He may have even welcomed a fight, if Kanae wasn't there.

"What are you doing here by yourself anyways?" Megumi asked him, smirking at him. "On a date with your lonesome self? Makes sense I guess. After all, what woman wants  _you?_  No back bone, and no personality. You were always alone and you'll always stay alone." She said looking at him with a face of mock pity. The rest laughed as if something extremely funny had been said. Yashiro ran a hand tiredly through his hair.  _Well my date is screwed,_ he thought.  _There's no way she would want to date someone as pathetic-_

"Who said he was alone?"

 


	7. Run!

Ren wondered what he could have done to deserve such torture. Really, it seemed unfair, here the girl of his dreams was perched nonchalantly on top of him and he couldn't even  _touch_  her. Why was that again?

Oh. That's right. She's only 16 goddamn years old.

Screw life.

"Tsuruga-san." He opened his eyes to see Kyoko straddling him, hands on his chest to support her, staring at him with a scolding gaze. "You mustn't pry in a girl's a room. It's not good manners." Ren's eyes widened in disbelief. In this position? On the floor? That was  _all_  she had to say?

"You know, if something is put on display, then one would assume that the items were meant to be viewed." He retorted. Kyoko glared at him indignantly.

"Well I-" The door to Kyoko's room suddenly swung open to reveal Okami-san carrying two bowls of steaming hot ramen.

"Kyoko-chan! Tsuruga-kun! I've brought some ramen for –" She stopped suddenly and she gaped as she took in the scene before her. It occurred to her that she was  _clearly_  intruding on what was obviously a private, intimate moment.

"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt!" She hastily put the bowls down on the table nearest the door and retreated while Kyoko suddenly realized their inappropriate position and leapt off the man.

"Wait! Okami-san! This isn't – I mean it's not – I wasn't –" Okami-san shook her head rapidly, cheeks pink.

"No, no. It's alright; you don't have to hide it. It was my fault for not knocking before coming in." She hastily retreated and closed the door with a somewhat strained.

"E-Enjoy your visit!"

"Okami-san, wait!" Kyoko was left in the middle of the room, reaching out to a woman that was no longer there to hear her defence. She collapsed lightly to the ground, slumping to the floor in depression. She buried her face in the crook of her arm and pounded her fist lightly on the ground.

"Oh no! What am I going to do? How am I ever going to face Okami-san again?" She gasped as a thought occurred to her. "Oh no! What if she tells Taisho? He'll think I'm an impure girl! I'm pure Taisho-san! Pure I tell you!" Kyoko stopped as she heard a small snort of laughter behind her. She snapped her head around and found Ren with a suspiciously straight face, now sitting upright on the floor.

"Just now, you laughed didn't you?" Kyoko said accusingly at him, eyes narrowed.

"I did not." He replied seriously. They stared each other down and soon enough, Ren's shoulders began to shake. He couldn't hold it in any longer, and burst out laughing, the initial sound almost exploding out of him. By the time the fit had subsided, Ren found he had an extremely irate kouhai opposite him.

"You're so mean!" Kyoko pouted. "You're making fun of me again! I don't see how you can laugh when you've just destroyed a young girl's reputation Tsuruga-san!"

"Me?" Ren pointed to himself in disbelief. " _I_ ruined  _your_  reputation?"

"Yes!" Kyoko said, nodding her head vigorously, not seeing any flaw in her accusation. Ren got up, towering over Kyoko suddenly.

"Really? If memory serves correctly,  _you_  grabbed  _me_ " He reached down and grabbed her wrist, yanking her wrist so that she was forced to stand. "and you, " He continued, a dangerous grin appearing on his face, "were the one who pushed me down." He shoved her lightly on the bed, going down with her, ignoring the small "eep" of fright she let out as she went down. Kyoko noted with mounting horror that the Emperor of the Night had made an appearance, unbidden. "As I see it, Mogami-san, was it not  _you_  who ruined  _my_  reputation?"

Kyoko's face drained of color as she realized the gravity of her actions. The second Ren's grip loosened, Kyoko immediately face planted into a full dogeza on her bed.

"I'm sorry!" She wailed, appalled at her audacity to accuse her sempai of such grievous deeds, when she herself was responsible. "I don't know how I had the gall to accuse of such a thing! Especially when its my fault!" Ren chuckled and ruffled her hair. Trust her to be able to so easily brush off such a ... _charged_  moment. Unbeknownst to Ren, Kyoko's own mind was racing a mile a minute.

 _What the hell was that? I was so shocked I couldn't even yell at him for being improper!_  She had distinctly felt the very last lock on her heart being pried off and had just instantly clamped down on it. She wasn't ready! This couldn't happen! Not here, not now, and certainly not with  _him_. Kyoko knew she would be stupid to consider herself a partner for someone such as Tsuruga Ren. To do so would just be embarking on a path of eternal suffering. But what else could she do? He had literally muscled his way into her heart and there was nothing she could do to stop him. And believe me, she'd tried. Kyoko tried to change the course of discussion, searching for another topic.

"Um...um...do you want to watch a movie, Tsuruga-san?" Ren looked at her in surprise. That was definitely not where he thought the conversation was going. Nevertheless, he respected her unvoiced plea to move on and considered her offer.

"A movie?"

"Yes." Kyoko nodded, reaching over to pull a laptop out of her messenger bag.

"I got it as a birthday present." Kyoko explained, glancing at him while booting the computer up. She got up and sat at a respectable distance from Ren on the bed.

"What do you want to watch?" Kyoko asked, fingers poised over the keyboard, looking at him expectantly. Ren thought for a moment.

"Are you open to watching a movie from Hollywood?" At Kyoko's non-committal nod, Ren typed in 'Tangled' in the search engine and an animated poster of the movie appeared as the movie itself loaded. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Tsuruga-san watches animated movies?" Ren shrugged.

"Take a look at who voices the uh...hero...in the movie. Your very own Otou-san." He laughed as he realized that he'd caught her. She'd definitely watch anything that her honorary father was in. Even if it was a cameo role. Not that he did those often. Really, he  _was_  Hizuri Kuu after all. Kyoko's eyes lit up and turned large and sparkly.

"Hero? Otou-san?" Ren dryly realized that he'd pulled two of her favourite things together in one movie. Ren got up and turned the lights off as soon as he'd set the movie up. He noted with some amusement the way Kyoko's shoulders turned stiff as the lights went out, clearly unsure of what to do and whether this was appropriate or not. Ren sat half a foot away from Kyoko, handing her the ramen bowls that the Okami-san had brought up, placing the computer on the kotatsu table. Soon both were engrossed in the movie, Ren noted that though there was nothing of his father in the appearance of the animated character, the voice entirely engulfed the audience and all you could hear and feel was Kuu's voice. He heard Kyoko sigh as they reached the scene of the candle lanterns.

"That is so beautiful." He heard her say and then gasp as she realized she'd spoken out loud.

"Yes, it is. " Ren agreed, storing it away as future reference for the planning of any big... _events_  in their lives.

As the movie continued to play, Ren sensed that something had changed in the young woman. Where she had been passively watching before, just enjoying the character's journey, now she was staring intently at the screen as if considering something.

"Tsuruga-san?" Ren was slightly startled to hear her as the movie wound up to the climax.

"Am I wrong?"

The question was short, and clearly pointed but Ren had to be sure they were talking about the same thing.

"About what?"

"About love. About...everything. Was I wrong to let Shoutaro affect me so much? I can't honestly see Yashiro doing the same to Moko-san." Ren stayed silent, she was clearly thinking out loud right now. He would answer when she pointed the question to him again.

"If he could make Moko-san look like that, I don't understand how it could be bad. Even Otou-san. I know he would never hurt his wife. Ever. He loves her so much, he wouldn't abandon her even if it killed him." The movie had ended, though this had gone unnoticed by the two who now sat in almost complete darkness.

"Tsuruga-san...am I wrong?" Ren pondered his words carefully. This was a critical moment for her. If he could say the right thing, he could show her that she didn't need to be afraid of love.

"I'm not sure Mogami-san. No one can say that love is something that is always enjoyable; it has its ups and downs just like everything else in life. But like everything else in life, it is something I think that humans can't function without. You won't always find it right away, and if you do, there's no guarantee that it's the right one even. There are good people and bad people in the world, and countless others have gone through what you have. And all of them attempt to move on. That's just how life works. If you couldn't then there would be no point in living. And, you'll find them eventually, the one who will love you unconditionally. It's essentially just trial and error. But one day, you'll get there. You'll find what you've been looking for."

It was silent following Ren's words. He sat in anxious silence as Kyoko mulled over his words. He was right, was all she could think. She had made the mistake of thinking that she was the only one who had to suffer. So many other girls must have gone through the same ordeal. What made her so special that she could sit here and just mope and plan revenge? She realized that all along she had pouring her energy into the wrong things. If others could move on after being betrayed, then so could she. She had to, she didn't want to be stuck in one place for the rest of her life. Then she would only be succumbing to what that bastard wanted. To spend her life with him at the forefront her mind, fuelling everything she did, to be the cause for her success.

"Thank you Tsuruga-san." Kyoko said quietly, feeling a sense of gratitude for the older man. He was always there for her and never hesitated to lend a helping hand to her when she needed it. She furrowed her brow as she registered his "you're welcome" faintly. Why did he affect everything she did? She hadn't realized it earlier but Ren had an awful lot of involvement in her life. More so than a normal senpai would. How odd. Wonder why that was?

"Mogami-san?" Kyoko blinked and realized that the lights had been turned back on and that Ren was crouching in front of her with a concerned look on his face. She let her eyes roam over his face. So handsome and kind. His eyes only ever enticed her.

What?

 _Enticed?_  This was  _Tsuruga-san_  she was talking about. She couldn't be –

"Tsuruga-kun? Kyoko-chan?" This time Okami-san knocked on the door and spoke from outside.

"C-come in." Kyoko called, blushing as Ren smiled at her, clearly laughing at her discomfort of how suddenly considerate the Okami-san was being of them. She poked her head in through the door.

"Dinner is ready. If you'd like, I could bring it up here."

"Oh that won't be necessary Ma'am. We'll come downstairs." Ren said politely, answering for Kyoko seeing as she'd suddenly gone off into LaLa land again if the faraway look in her eyes was anything to go by.

_Could I really be in lo-_

LINELINELINELINE

Megumi and her considerably drunk entourage's eyes widened slightly as Kanae stepped around Yashiro to reveal herself. Yashiro couldn't help but bristle in annoyance as everyman in the group practically molested her with their eyes. The women were more irritated than he was apparently because soon the group of men burst into chorus's of  _ouch!_  And  _what was that for?_

By now, the twilight time had come and gone and the only light source was coming from a dim dusty street lamp that would have been romantic had it not been for the company they had.

Kanae smiled a little and looped her arm through Yashiro's, gluing herself to him, pressing her chest against his upper arm. She noted with interest that Megumi's eyes flickered between Yashiro, Kanae and their intertwined hands.

"Who are you?" She asked rather rudely, her twisting into an ugly sneer. Her eyes sized Kanae up and lingered where they were joined.

"Who are these people sweetheart?" Kanae asked Yashiro, ignoring Megumi outright. Kanae practically purred at him. He gulped, seeing Kanae's red glossed lips, and feeling her body against him. He realized somewhat wryly that Kanae had gone into actors' mode. There was no way she was acting herself when she was draping herself all over him like this. It made him a little sad. But nevertheless, it would help in getting away fast.

"No one important." Yashiro replied somewhat apprehensively. He knew Megumi wouldn't let them get away so easily. Not until she was done humiliating him completely. Megumi herself was getting angrier with every moment she was being ignored. Kanae and Yashiro turned away, ignoring their company and began to stroll away, until Tsakasu yelled for them to stop.

"Hey!" He brought a heavy hand down on Yashiro's shoulder. "Megumi's talking to you dweeb." Kanae rolled her eyes at Yashiro before knocking Tsakasu's hand off Yashiro.

"Look, I don;t have time to deal with you. I'm kinda on a date here, so would you  _scram_?" Tsakasu was momentarily taken aback by the venom in her voice. They suddenly heard a harsh laugh come from behind them.

" _She's_  your date? I guess it's understandable. She  _does_  look an awful lot like me. Guess me rejecting you affected you more than I thought. Looks like you've started to look for substitute for me." The group behind her tittered with laughter.

"Although nothing beats the real thing, I'll tell you that." Tsakasu said with a lecherous grin on his face that made Kanae and Yashiro gag internally. Kanae was nonplussed by the woman's words.

 _Just what part of us looks alike? The fact that we both have faces? Well actually...that's questionable as well._   _Don't make me laugh_ , Kanae thought with a derisive snort, drawing the groups attention.

"You got something to say skank?" Megumi said archly. She didn't like being laughed at, it made her feel like she wasn't in control. Kanae's eyes flashed at the insult though she didn't respond to it.

"Nothing really. I'm just amazed that some people really  _are_  as stupid as they look." Megumi bristled at her words.

"Why you-" Kanae approached her then, passing Tsakasu and giving her a look that would have given Natsu a run for her money.  _Speaking of which,_ Kanae thought.  _What was that line in last week's episode?..Oh yes._

"Megumi, we may have an  _interest_  in the same man, but you and I, you see," here Kanae smiled darkly, causing Megumi to shiver involuntarily, "are of a different grade, here." Kanae pointed to her heart, "and here." She then pointed to her mind. Megumi sputtered indignantly as her friends stared on, unsure of how to interpret this turn of events. Their ring leader was suddenly being bullied into submission by another woman.

"How-How dare you!" Megumi screeched, insulted. "I don't have  _any_  interest in that man! He wouldn't know beauty even if it danced naked in front of him!" She declared, affronted by the very thought of liking someone like Yashiro. Kanae arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow as the final pieces of the puzzle she'd been trying to put together in her mind, fell into place. It helped that Megumi's word choice did nothing to cover her true grudge.

"I see." Kanae murmured. Megumi backed up slightly, seeing the evil, almost ecstatic look on Kanae's face. By now, Yashiro had been all but forgotten despite being the topic for the ...uh...confrontation. He shook his head, not knowing whether to be impressed or frightened. Either way, she was clearly spending too much time with Kyoko.

"W-What?" Megumi said, a little scared of the black haired woman advancing towards her.

"Megumi-chan." Kanae said, standing directly in front of the older woman, sizing her up in a way Megumi found disconcerting. "I understand everything now. You're angry that Yashiro didn't show any interest in you at all.  _You_ ,who the entire male student body lusted after, hmm?"

Megumi paled as Kanae saw that she had clearly nailed the problem.

"You must have ambushed him in university. Didn't you? You were hoping he would fall in love with you like everyone else. But let me guess what happened, he pushed you away didn't he? And you probably used that to your advantage and told everyone that he was trying to force himself on you, didn't you?" The blood drained from Megumi's face as her friends began to talk amongst themselves behind her. "After all, it would be too embarrassing to tell them that you were rejected wouldn't it?" Kanae's opposition slowly backed away from her, sensing defeat but clearly unwilling to admit it. Kanae watched in amusement as the girl tried to think of something to gain the upper hand again.

"See, the problem is with this guy here," Kanae pointed suddenly to a startled Yashiro behind her. "he was a too much of a man to go along with your stupid plans. Yukihito just isn't the kind of guy to take advantage of a woman, even if she throws herself at him. He's the kind of guy that won't touch a girl unless she's in a serious relationship with him." Kanae shrugged. "I would know, I've tried."

Yashiro fought the urge to laugh as Kanae just began to blatantly lie about their relationship, although he had difficulty suppressing the shiver that passed through him at the sound of his name from those perfectly colored lips of hers.

Megumi seemed to momentarily regain some of her fighting spirit.

"W-What garbage! Besides you act like he doesn't think I'm worth doing anything with." Kanae just smiled, and went back to press herself to her date, subtly leading Yashiro to put a possessive hand around her waist, though it was more modestly placed than Tsakasu's had been earlier.

"What can I say? He's a man of class that doesn't like dirtying his hands with  _trash_." She looked condescendingly at the group that had been momentarily stunned by the sudden insulted. They could say nothing in retaliation as Yashiro and Kanae walked away from the group. They made it about three steps before Tsakasu and Megumi managed to shake themselves out of their stupefaction.

"HEY WAIT YOU!" Yashiro and Kanae glanced back at them and then each other and started to grin. Yashiro grabbed her hand and laughing, yelled,

"RUN!" As they sprinted back to his car.


	8. Messing Up

It was a short sprint to the car from the park despite Kanae's heels and with it being as dark as it was, they lost their pursuers relatively quickly. Yashiro unlocked the car keyless-ly as they approached, allowing them to easily slide in, slumping against the seats laughing from the adrenaline rush.

"Ugh." Kanae groaned, rubbing her feet and chucking her heels off. "Remind never to run in heels again."

"Sorry," Yashiro said guiltily, seeing the red lines on her feet.

"Mo, whatever, it doesn't matter. But" Kanae shifted in her seat to face Yashiro. "What was that all about just now? Who were all those people?" Yashiro sighed, those were memories he would rather ignore and pretend never existed. He shifted the car into reverse and backed out of the restaurant parking lot.

"Yashiro?" Kanae wondered if maybe she'd gone too far but decided she didn't care, considering she  _had_  just saved his butt from public humiliation. He owed her an explanation at the very least.

"Just-just let me get us somewhere else and I'll tell you."

They drove in silence until Yashiro found a parking space a couple of blocks down the road facing the Tokyo Bay fully. Yashiro leaned back into his chair, running his hands over his face.

"Man, why did they have to pick tonight to come after me?"

"Why was tonight special?" Kanae asked, earning herself a look from Yashiro.

"Mo, I meant besides the obvious." She said, flushing. Yashiro chuckled.

"Well considering this is my first date in 2 1/2 years, I'd say yeah tonight was special." Kanae stared at him.

"Okay, no offense, but you realize that that's really kind of pathetic right? Especially for a 25 year old man?"

"oh none taken. On the other hand, this is  _your_  first date ever. " Kanae winced.

"Touche. But that still doesn't answer my original question." Kanae pointed out and crossed her arms over her chest.

"They were classmates – and I use that term lightly – from Tokyo Central U." He said, causing Kanae to roll her eyes.

"Thankyou for telling me what I already knew. I mean what was all that about between you and Megumi?" Yashiro cracked a wry smile.

"Did Ren ever tell you guys where I was from?" Kanae shook her head. 'Well I'm from a small town on the outskirts of Osaka. And when I say small, I mean  _small._  I didn't – I couldn't just stay there. It was too small, too connected. Everyone knew everyone else. Nothing was private. Not dreams, not your ambitions, or even your ambitions. Not that anyone cared of course. The expected outcome was to finish high school, and take over the family business, find a good wife and give your parents some grand kids." Yashiro shrugged. " I couldn't take it. I mean I tried, but I couldn't. By the time I finished high school, I knew I had to get out. "

"So you came here." Kanae said softly, leaning her head against her arms. Yashiro smiled as if remembering a fond memory.

"I still remember when I saw Tokyo for the first time...and I had thought my town was big. I was a country boy I guess. I came from a town where the population was in the thousands to a city where the population numbered in the millions. The culture shock was huge," he said with a laugh. "and that turned me into something like a recluse. Couple that with the terrifying amount of course work and before I knew what was happening, I had no friends." Kanae raised an eyebrow as he shook his head in awe of his own behaviour. Yashiro, a recluse? This screaming, fan-girling man had no friends?

"Add to the fact that I had to work in order to pay my tuition, and it meant that I took off the minute class was over to go to my part time job."

"so how does Megumi play in then?' Kanae asked.

" Well, It was no wonder that I didn't know who Megumi was given that I wasn't in social circle to speak of. So one day I while I was studying in an empty classroom, I heard the door open and someone walk in. I didn't really care until I head the door lock click. I looked up and the next thing I know, all of her clothes are gone and she had me on the ground... and well you guessed the rest."

Kanae clenched her well manicured fist, nails digging into flesh.  _That skank_ , she fumed. She had no right, no respect for herself or for Yashiro if she thought  _her_  Yashiro would take advantage of her like that.

She blinked.

 _Her_ Yashiro? What? Shit, she liked him more than she thought, she realized with a blush.

"And just like that," Yashiro said, snapping his fingers. "I went from being a nobody to one of the most notorious guys on campus for attempting to rape Megumi..To make matters worse, Megumi decided to generously forgive me, in front of the entire campus, which made her a saint and me the devil for ignoring her 'good will'" Yashiro said and Kanae couldn't help but smile.

"And yet, you didn't let that incident control you. You're still a happy and kind man." Yashiro grinned as Kanae took his hand shyly. "I guess you're stronger than I thought."

Yashiro squeezed her hand as he stared into the eyes of the woman who had captivated him since he'd first laid eyes on her. So beautiful, so confident.

Kanae realized that maybe, this was what she seemed to be missing. This feeling, here, right now. Her eyes roamed his face, from his expressive brown eyes, that smile that made her feel like a horde of butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach, all of it seemed to point to the fact that she was maybe, possibly , in love with Yashiro. She leaned against him unconsciously, seeing Yashiro himself come closer to her, her eyes began flutter closed as they –

_BZZZZZZZZT_

A loud beeping and buzzing sound interrupted them, causing them to spring apart, blushing furiously.

"It's my alarm," Yashiro said sheepishly, fumbling in his pocket for the device. He finally located the shrill device and managed to turn it off all the while cursing inwardly for the terrible timing.

"It's – uh – it's 9:45 and I promised Taisho that I would have you back by 10 PM." Kanae tried not to show her disappointment and then immediately flushed.

"O-oh. Guess we'd better get going then." She said,  _what the hell? Since when do I want to kiss Yashiro? There's no – and I mean NO WAY – that I want to kiss Yashiro Yukihito, no matter how cute, or sexy I think he is._

_Sexy?_

_Oh hell._

The drive back to the Darumya was silent, but not unpleasantly so. Kanae was lost in her own thoughts. She kept ping-pong-ing between accepting that she maybe-kinda-sorta was in love with Yashiro and flat out denying it. He was 25 for goodness sakes. Even if she supposed they started dating, how long would he be satisfied? He was a  _man_  and she – she was just a – she was just  _Kanae_  and she didn't know the first thing about being with a man. Oh crap, not – not like  _that_ she just meant in the relationship – for for goodness sakes, Kanae grumbled.  _I'm embarrassing myself in my own mind. Things just cannot get any worse._

By the time they had pulled up to the Darumya, Kanae's heart was pounding. This was one of the most important parts of the date. She'd picked up on that much at least during high school. How you ended the date set the tone for the whole relationship. This was the moment that decided whether they were or were not meant to be a couple. These were tricky waters and all she had to navigate them were the advice of some faulty 15 year olds.

"Kanae?"

She blinked. She hadn't even noticed him get out of the car.

"Oh, um thank you." She took his offered and dazedly walked after him as he led her to front door of the Darumya. They stood awkwardly for a moment until Yashiro cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"Kanae," he held her hands. "Would you..."

LINELINELINELINE

'Are you sure you have to leave  _now?_  Tsuruga-kun?' The Okami-san said, hand to her face, gazing concernedly at him. "It's so late and we wouldn't mind you staying over at all. A young man such as yourself shouldn't be out this late. At least wait for Yashiro-san and Kanae-chan to return."

Ren smiled as he picked his jacket up and draped it over his arm.

"Thank you, I'd love to, but I don't want to impose on my first visit." He watched Kyoko out of the corner of his eye. In the half hour that they'd been downstairs, her behaviour had become strange – even for her. Her behaviour was curious, consisting of an oddly high-pitched and squeaky voice and the averting of her gaze. To top it off, she'd taken to twirling her hair and biting her bottom lip all the while stealing glances at him. If Ren didn't know any better, he would have thought she'd fallen in love with him. Of course, he'd learned now that those signs could mean  _any_  thing. And he really did mean anything. It was more likely that she was thinking of Kanae's date and wasn't looking at him because he was Yashiro's best friend.

 _This cannot be happening!_  Kyoko swore to herself, she was overcome with anxiety – an anxiety she'd hoped never to feel again.  _I swore – I_ _ **swore**_ _– that after Shoutaro, I'd never fall in love with anyone ever again. And look at me now!_  She glared balefully at her senpai – and now crush's – broad back.  _This is all your fault you conniving con artist!_

Ren suddenly flinched, and whirled around to see Kyoko innocently examining her nails.  _That's odd. I could've sworn I felt an awfully angry aura just now. Hm. Oh well._

"Well Mogami-san, this was a pleasure, I had a wonderful time and the meal was wonderful."He smiled charmingly and this time didn't back down from the Taisho's observant and slightly intimidating stare. Kyoko stared back and forth from between them, not comprehending the charged atmosphere between the two men, although her grudges were definitely enjoying it.

"Ah, well," Kyoko said, hastily pushing Ren towards the door, " I was glad to have you over and get to know.." she threw the front door open. "...one... another..." She trailed off, seeing Kanae and Yashiro in what appeared to be an intimate moment.

"Uhh, sorry did we interrupt." Kyoko said sheepishly and Kanae seemed to realize Yashiro was holding her hands and yanked them back rapidly and waved dismissively to Kyoko.

"No no." She said nervously. "Of course not, Yashiro's just dropping me off, nothing special." Kyoko and Ren winced inwardly as a flash of hurt travel across Yashiro's face. Kanae glanced at Yashiro and instantly realized her mistake.

_Crap._

"Yes, of course you didn't, I was just dropping Kotonami-san off. " Yashiro smiled a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and Kanae cringed.  _Kotonami-san? No! This isn't how this was supposed to end!_

"Wait, Yashiro-"

"Well, I should be on my way now," he said, smoothly cutting Kanae off. He turned to Kanae and bowed with a sweeping gesture.

"Thank you for a wonderful night Kotonami-san. I'm truly sorry that things couldn't work out." He said sincerely, ignoring Kanae's wide eyed look, he bid the rest of them a pleasant enough farewell and went back to his car. Kanae just gaped at him like a landed trout, only coming to her senses when the car engine started and sprinting to the car.

"Wait, Yashiro - !"

But he was gone, not even sparing the slightest glance behind him.

Kanae watched him leave helplessly; she turned around to face Kyoko and Ren who watched her with concern. Ren was the first to say something in the silence that ensued.

"What - uh- what happened?"

"I – man – I messed up."


	9. Suspicious Behavior

For the second time that night, Ren was left wondering what on Earth he had done to deserve such treatment. This was clearly a girls' sleepover and yet here he was sitting on Kyoko's bed in a borrowed pair of the Taisho's pyjamas since he had been forbidden to go home. He'd tried though, but Kanae had grabbed him and dragged him back in, saying;

"Oh no you don't. Where do you think you're going? Get back in here!"

"But I-"

"Can it!"

His protests had been ignored as an irate Kanae had finally dumped in Kyoko's bedroom. Which led him back to the current situation.

"Aggh! I feel like a moron!  _This_ is why I don't like people! It's so much easier to be alone!" Kanae grumbled, sitting at the kotatsu, icing her feet down.

Kyoko and Ren glanced at each other from their seats on the bed, baffled by the turn of events.

"Kotonami-san, what exactly happened?" Ren finally asked after listening to her continuous cryptic rant for more than half hour. It was now midnight. Kanae angrily chucked the half melted bag of ice in the trash and crossed her arms over her flannel shirt clad chest.

"I don't know! One minute he was fine and the next, he was all upset. Men are so complicated." Ren raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you  _sure_  you don't know Kotonami-san?" She flushed.

"Okay, so maybe saying that we weren't doing anything special and yanking my hands away was a bit of a stupid move." She grudgingly admitted. Kyoko shook her head.

"Moko-san, you hurt his feelings."

"Pssh, a man shouldn't get his feelings hurt!"

"Kotonami-san, you'll forgive me if I'm being overly familiar, but you were holding hands when Mogami-san opened the door right?" Kanae nodded, not looking at them a suspicious blush on the tips of her ears, choosing to massage her feet instead.

"Why did you deny that you were having a moment? Mogami-san would simply have closed the door and let you continue?"

"Are you out of your mind? That was embarrassing enough, you think I'm gonna ask for  _more_  of it?" Kanae looked at Ren incredulously,

Kyoko sighed, Kanae was smart, but sometimes she could be so silly. She let Ren handle this one, since Yashiro was his best friend.

"Maybe it was embarrassing to you, but did you ever think about what Yashiro would inference from that? I'm sure he told you about Tokyo U didn't he?" Ren looked at her expectantly and saw the tell tale guilt flash over her face.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for him to work up the courage to ask you out? How much work he put into making the date as flawless and perfect as possible? You; a woman  _much_  younger than himself and an actress to boot?" Kanae winced, the more she thought about it, the worse she felt. She'd been  _super_  inconsiderate of a man who only ever been wonderful to her. He'd told her so much about himself and she hadn't even used it to consider how he would take her behaviour at the end of the night. She slammed her head against the kotatsu, the force of the impact creating a loud bang.

"Moko-san?"

"Somebody slap me."

"What?"

"You heard me." Came the muffled voice of Kanae from the kotatsu table

_Knock Knock_

"Tsuruga-kun, the guest room is ready for you now." The Okami-san peered in and motioned for Ren to follow her and he took this as his cue to bid the girls good night. As he settled into his room he heard the Taisho go to Kyoko's room, gruffly speaking when she answered.

"Kyoko, lock the room from the inside." A small metal clang could be heard as the key landed on what Ren assumed was the dresser.

"Okay...?"

Ren sweatdropped. Well then.

LINELINELINELINE

The next morning the trio arrived at LME relatively early, splitting up promptly with the girls heading to the LoveMe Locker Room and Ren heading to his manager's office. And find him he did; the man was swarmed with paper as he typed away furiously on his keyboard. Ren paused in the doorway. He didn't know what he was supposed to say in this situation.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat, hoping to catch his attention, but Yashiro showed no signs of acknowledgement. He tried again, louder. Nothing.

"Yashiro."

"Huh? Oh! Good morning Ren!" Yashiro clumsily got up from his swivel chair, packing random documents in his briefcase, ushering Ren out of his office.

"Come on, come on. We're wasting daylight! We have two meeting in 40 minutes and we still haven't had our morning coffee!"

"Uh alright?" Ren let himself be pushed out into the corridor, confused with the hyper-ness as opposed to the depression he had come prepared to deal with. From what he could tell, Yashiro was trying to keep himself busy but whether that was working was another story all together.

LINELINELINELINE

"Morning Amamiya-san!" Kyoko chirped happily as she strode into the LoveMe Locker Room, opening her locker and pulling her jumpsuit out.

"Morning senpai! You're here early today." Chiori commented, pulling her own suit on today.

"Moko-san and I decided that we would come a little early today to get more done, isn't that right Moko-san?" Kyoko explained while rummaging in her bag for her phone, only to look up to see Chiori looking at her strangely.

"Um senpai,? Kotonami-san isn't here..." Kyoko whirled around to see Kanae nowhere in sight. She ran to the door of the locker room, poking her head out look down the deserted hallway, as Chiori watched her, clearly puzzled.

"What? But she was just here. Where'd she go?"

LINELINELINELINE

Ren and Yashiro strolled down the hallway towards the cafe to get their morning coffee. The entire walk, Yashiro hadn't shut up, he kept going on and on about different acting opportunities barely stopping for a breath in between.

"But the protagonist for Tail of the Moon is vastly different from any character you've ever done Ren, it'll help you get away from the gentleman stigma. As a Ninja war lord you'll gain – "

"Yashiro-"

"far more recognition than –"

"Yash-"

"your previous roles. "

"Ya-"

"Maybe even more than Cain? You never know!"

"Yashiro!" Yashiro finally stopped and sighed.

"What?"

"Tell me what happened yesterday?"

"Nothing. It was a normal date."

"A normal date doesn't end with the man abandoning the woman at the door."

"I did not abandon –"

"Yashiro."

"..."

Ren sighed.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but Kotonami-san deserves an explanation at least. Yes she made a mistake," Ren said as he strolled in front of his manager, only hearing a small grunt from him. "It's never smart to end something on ambiguous terms. Don't you think?" Ren turned to face Yashiro, only to find the hallway empty and his manager nowhere in sight.

"Yashiro?" He peered down the adjacent hallway for a sign of his awol manager.

"That's odd. Where'd he go?"

LINELINELINE

"Whoa!" Yashiro yelped as his back collided with the wall of the dingy supply closet rather harshly.

"Ouch! What –" He stared as the figure in front of him grew more defined to his adjusting vision. "Ka – Kotonami-san?" He looked incredulously at the woman who had him pinned to the wall, one knee planted firmly between his legs.

"What the – "

He never got out another word as his lips were covered with her velvet soft ones.

LINELINELINELINE

"Tsuruga-san? What are you doing?" Ren turned to see Kyoko walk down from the stairs and shrugged as he continued to look around. Kyoko willed herself to act normal,  _no twirling of hair or biting lips! Normal Kyoko! Normal!_

"Looking for Yashiro. He disappeared five minutes ago while we were walking to the cafe." Kyoko gave him a funny look.

"Weird. Moko-san disappeared too, just before we got to the Love Me room." The two stared at each other for a moment before chuckling darkly.

_Well if that wasn't just suspicious as all Hell._


	10. Playing Cupid

For the second time that night, Ren was left wondering what on Earth he had done to deserve such treatment. This was clearly a girls' sleepover and yet here he was sitting on Kyoko's bed in a borrowed pair of the Taisho's pyjamas since he had been forbidden to go home. He'd tried though, but Kanae had grabbed him and dragged him back in, saying;

"Oh no you don't. Where do you think you're going? Get back in here!"

"But I-"

"Can it!"

His protests had been ignored as an irate Kanae had finally dumped in Kyoko's bedroom. Which led him back to the current situation.

"Aggh! I feel like a moron!  _This_ is why I don't like people! It's so much easier to be alone!" Kanae grumbled, sitting at the kotatsu, icing her feet down.

Kyoko and Ren glanced at each other from their seats on the bed, baffled by the turn of events.

"Kotonami-san, what exactly happened?" Ren finally asked after listening to her continuous cryptic rant for more than half hour. It was now midnight. Kanae angrily chucked the half melted bag of ice in the trash and crossed her arms over her flannel shirt clad chest.

"I don't know! One minute he was fine and the next, he was all upset. Men are so complicated." Ren raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you  _sure_  you don't know Kotonami-san?" She flushed.

"Okay, so maybe saying that we weren't doing anything special and yanking my hands away was a bit of a stupid move." She grudgingly admitted. Kyoko shook her head.

"Moko-san, you hurt his feelings."

"Pssh, a man shouldn't get his feelings hurt!"

"Kotonami-san, you'll forgive me if I'm being overly familiar, but you were holding hands when Mogami-san opened the door right?" Kanae nodded, not looking at them a suspicious blush on the tips of her ears, choosing to massage her feet instead.

"Why did you deny that you were having a moment? Mogami-san would simply have closed the door and let you continue?"

"Are you out of your mind? That was embarrassing enough, you think I'm gonna ask for  _more_  of it?" Kanae looked at Ren incredulously,

Kyoko sighed, Kanae was smart, but sometimes she could be so silly. She let Ren handle this one, since Yashiro was his best friend.

"Maybe it was embarrassing to you, but did you ever think about what Yashiro would inference from that? I'm sure he told you about Tokyo U didn't he?" Ren looked at her expectantly and saw the tell tale guilt flash over her face.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for him to work up the courage to ask you out? How much work he put into making the date as flawless and perfect as possible? You; a woman  _much_  younger than himself and an actress to boot?" Kanae winced, the more she thought about it, the worse she felt. She'd been  _super_  inconsiderate of a man who only ever been wonderful to her. He'd told her so much about himself and she hadn't even used it to consider how he would take her behaviour at the end of the night. She slammed her head against the kotatsu, the force of the impact creating a loud bang.

"Moko-san?"

"Somebody slap me."

"What?"

"You heard me." Came the muffled voice of Kanae from the kotatsu table

_Knock Knock_

"Tsuruga-kun, the guest room is ready for you now." The Okami-san peered in and motioned for Ren to follow her and he took this as his cue to bid the girls good night. As he settled into his room he heard the Taisho go to Kyoko's room, gruffly speaking when she answered.

"Kyoko, lock the room from the inside." A small metal clang could be heard as the key landed on what Ren assumed was the dresser.

"Okay...?"

Ren sweatdropped. Well then.

LINELINELINELINE

The next morning the trio arrived at LME relatively early, splitting up promptly with the girls heading to the LoveMe Locker Room and Ren heading to his manager's office. And find him he did; the man was swarmed with paper as he typed away furiously on his keyboard. Ren paused in the doorway. He didn't know what he was supposed to say in this situation.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat, hoping to catch his attention, but Yashiro showed no signs of acknowledgement. He tried again, louder. Nothing.

"Yashiro."

"Huh? Oh! Good morning Ren!" Yashiro clumsily got up from his swivel chair, packing random documents in his briefcase, ushering Ren out of his office.

"Come on, come on. We're wasting daylight! We have two meeting in 40 minutes and we still haven't had our morning coffee!"

"Uh alright?" Ren let himself be pushed out into the corridor, confused with the hyper-ness as opposed to the depression he had come prepared to deal with. From what he could tell, Yashiro was trying to keep himself busy but whether that was working was another story all together.

LINELINELINELINE

"Morning Amamiya-san!" Kyoko chirped happily as she strode into the LoveMe Locker Room, opening her locker and pulling her jumpsuit out.

"Morning senpai! You're here early today." Chiori commented, pulling her own suit on today.

"Moko-san and I decided that we would come a little early today to get more done, isn't that right Moko-san?" Kyoko explained while rummaging in her bag for her phone, only to look up to see Chiori looking at her strangely.

"Um senpai,? Kotonami-san isn't here..." Kyoko whirled around to see Kanae nowhere in sight. She ran to the door of the locker room, poking her head out look down the deserted hallway, as Chiori watched her, clearly puzzled.

"What? But she was just here. Where'd she go?"

LINELINELINELINE

Ren and Yashiro strolled down the hallway towards the cafe to get their morning coffee. The entire walk, Yashiro hadn't shut up, he kept going on and on about different acting opportunities barely stopping for a breath in between.

"But the protagonist for Tail of the Moon is vastly different from any character you've ever done Ren, it'll help you get away from the gentleman stigma. As a Ninja war lord you'll gain – "

"Yashiro-"

"far more recognition than –"

"Yash-"

"your previous roles. "

"Ya-"

"Maybe even more than Cain? You never know!"

"Yashiro!" Yashiro finally stopped and sighed.

"What?"

"Tell me what happened yesterday?"

"Nothing. It was a normal date."

"A normal date doesn't end with the man abandoning the woman at the door."

"I did not abandon –"

"Yashiro."

"..."

Ren sighed.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but Kotonami-san deserves an explanation at least. Yes she made a mistake," Ren said as he strolled in front of his manager, only hearing a small grunt from him. "It's never smart to end something on ambiguous terms. Don't you think?" Ren turned to face Yashiro, only to find the hallway empty and his manager nowhere in sight.

"Yashiro?" He peered down the adjacent hallway for a sign of his awol manager.

"That's odd. Where'd he go?"

LINELINELINE

"Whoa!" Yashiro yelped as his back collided with the wall of the dingy supply closet rather harshly.

"Ouch! What –" He stared as the figure in front of him grew more defined to his adjusting vision. "Ka – Kotonami-san?" He looked incredulously at the woman who had him pinned to the wall, one knee planted firmly between his legs.

"What the – "

He never got out another word as his lips were covered with her velvet soft ones.

LINELINELINELINE

"Tsuruga-san? What are you doing?" Ren turned to see Kyoko walk down from the stairs and shrugged as he continued to look around. Kyoko willed herself to act normal,  _no twirling of hair or biting lips! Normal Kyoko! Normal!_

"Looking for Yashiro. He disappeared five minutes ago while we were walking to the cafe." Kyoko gave him a funny look.

"Weird. Moko-san disappeared too, just before we got to the Love Me room." The two stared at each other for a moment before chuckling darkly.

_Well if that wasn't just suspicious as all Hell._

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I really think there aren't enough fanfics about these two. I know they're about as likely to happen as Sho and Kyoko but hey its still a fun thought. So just to be clear, since we don't know nearly enough about them I think its safe to say that they'll be a bit OOC in this story. Also I'm not sure of Yashiro's age so I just made him four years older than Ren. Call it poetic license if you will. 
> 
> PLEASE COMMENT


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